The Justice League Recruits
by Draguna Doragon
Summary: Super powered heroes and villains are popping up everywhere, and the Justice League are recruiting to take these people into their ranks. Better a hero than a villain! Watch as these sexy female fighters cause up a storm! Lots of humour, action and of course super powered romance. M for a reason. Hope you like the fun for everyone approach i've taken. Even for some of the baddies.
1. Chapter 1

"This is getting out of control."

"I agree. It's been getting worse and worse this last year. How many Supes have we had to wrangle in now? And all of them are kids." Clark Kent shook his head with disappointment. Diana shared a look with him as she pulled a teenager in a hoodie up to his feet with her trusty lasso. He was crying in fear of what was going to happen to him now. The lad had tried to rob a bank, desperate for money to pay off the local gangsters forcing his family to pay 'protection money'. Apparently they had been behind in payments, and they'd already shot his father. He'd also discovered his body could get so hot, everything he touched either melted or caught on fire. So the next logical step to fix his problem was donning a hoodie and rob a bank...

Which is why he was now tied up after having had his ass handed to him by the Justice league.

Batman growled with frustration, smacking the kid upside the head and giving him a damn good telling off for being so stupid. He should have told the police, not taken the matter into his inexperienced hands.

The boy was handed over to the police, despite Diana pleading that the Justice league should _do_ something. The boy would now have a criminal record...maybe even go to prison...

But the police arrived, cuffed the boy, and took him. they couldn't exactly let the boy go, he'd knocked out 3 guards and tried to rob a bank.

So that's why the Justice league now sat around the large table in the main conference room at the watch tower. Batman and Superman were at the head of the table, as always. To Superman's left was Diana, then Hawkgirl, with the Martian Manhunter at the other end of the table. To Batman's right was the green lantern and Flash.

"We have all noticed how over the last year or so there has been a significant increase of young offenders with special abilities like ours turning to crime. It has distracted us from aiming our other efforts to more important tasks-"

"And these kids have most of the time turned to crime because they don't know what else to do!" Diana cut Batman off, jumping to her feet and slamming her hands down on the table. "Every time I have to beat down a _child_ that has had no one to guide them or help them learn how to use their powers for good it breaks my heart! Once they commit a crime they are arrested and their lives are over! Why should they try to be good when they have been made into a criminal?!"

"Last month there was a girl who secreted poison from her skin. Her powers developed and then suddenly everyone she touched became ill or died. She had nowhere to turn, and Lex Luthor appeared. He took her 'under his wing', and strategically placed her in a large crowded area. He used her as a distracted whilst he stole weapons grade microchips from a military facility." Superman hissed through his teeth. It was rare for Clark to get angry like this. Using and abusing the innocent was one of the few things that really caused him to see red. "We went in guns blazing to put her under control and Lex got away with incredibly dangerous technology. She is now in solitary confinement."

"These kids are young, new to their powers, and they are either turning to crime, or being taken advantage of by real criminals." Batman interlocked his fingers, hiding his mouth from view as he leaned on the table with his elbows. His voice was dark and his eyes darker. "Joker now has a 'freak brigade'. All kids, all without anywhere else to turn."

"We need to stop them." Diana still stood, clearly too furious to sit. Hawkgirls' hand tentatively touched her arm, trying to calm her friend.

"What a terrible thing these villains are doing."

"No, it's not terrible." Batman lowered his hands, taking everyone's attention. "It's brilliant."

"Come again bats?" Flash dropped his chin into his hand, one elbow on the desk, the other hand scratching the back of his head.

"Why should the bad guys be the only ones to recruit a youth division?" Batman then turned to Superman, who appeared to be landing on the same idea he was.

"But we already have the teen titans. Robin heads that, and you relay with them through him."

"That is Robin's team, yes. And they are very productive. However, I am referring to an active recruitment of individuals with abilities to be trained, given discipline and a purpose, through the Justice league. They would be justice league recruits."

"Go on...?" Diana finally returned to her seat, seeing the dark crusader had a plan.

"Well, we have always been outnumbered by the enemy. Usually because the likes of Joker and Lex offer money or greed. However, we could offer training and a purpose. Those who would have turned to crime as it is their only option, wouldn't turn to crime anymore."

"The good ones would have somewhere to go...I like this." Superman folded his arms and nodded. "How shall we do it?"

"I've been going over some initial plans and I've come to the conclusion the best way is to announce our intentions publically, and then hold auditions. Anonymity wouldn't last for long after we recruited so many. And we need to get the information out there for _them _to come to _us_, so going public is the best way." Batman was all business, touching the screen on the desk in front of him as he spoke. He was either making furious notes, or accessing the relevant information to put this plan into action, Clark thought to himself.

"Perhaps by giving a statement to all the big newspapers?" Clark added; he could certainly get the message published in the Daily Planet.

"Indeed. I suggest that we are all present for the auditions, and have a strict criteria for what we are looking for. The last thing we want is to be infiltrated by the enemy."

"And proof of ability." Flash added. "I bet a lot of nutjobs will turn up, so we should get them to prove what they can do."

"That will be part of the criteria. The Hall of Justice was built in mind to eventually take on many Justice league members, and would be ideal as a training academy. It would allow us to keep a close eye on our recruits."

"I like this." Superman nodded again and beamed to the table. "I'm assuming that we will all take on recruits and mentor them?"

"Yes. I predict that we can still be mostly efficient at our jobs and our personal lives, and take on approximately...7 recruits each. Once they are trained up, we can take on another 7 recruits and the previous students can eventually take on recruits too, and so on and so forth."

"I'm in." Diana nodded, smiling beautifully at them all. "It will be an honour to pass on my teachings and morals to the future heroes of tomorrow."

"...I suppose I'm in as well, then." Hawkgirl nodded, although didn't look all that pleased at having to run after a bunch of teenagers...

"Alright. I'm in too." Hal nodded, raising a fist and his ring glowing it's brilliant emerald hue. "I'll work them hard and show them that the strength of will is greater than the temptation of evil. And of course, to do it with style!"

"I am _so _in! Getting to boss kids around?! Are you kidding me?! I'm there." Flash grinned to himself from ear to ear, making batman shake his head. It didn't help when the young and feisty JL bachelors speed and green might bumped fists with glee. "Well, I'm not going to be the baby of the group anymore. I wonder if I can get them matching t-shits that say mini-flashes...or Flash's crew! Oo oo, the Flashers!"

"No."

"Ah but-"

"No." Batman pointed at him threateningly. "They will have their own uniforms, and on them will be the initials JLR. Justice League Recruit. Nothing else."

"Ooowwww spoil sport." Flash snorted, but still smiled. This was certainly going to be fun!

"I am unsure what I could teach a human." J'onn cocked his head to one side, his face as stoic as ever.

"You have telepathic abilities. And flight. And strength. And you can phase through walls." Flash counted off his gloved fingers. "_Tones_ of stuff you could teach them."

"I see. Then I shall also be a mentor."

"So that's all of us then?" Superman looked to Batman, who signed, and nodded. Although this was the dark knight's idea, he was clearly not looking forward to a group of untrained, undisciplined teenagers blowing up his batcave. Nightwing took years and he still acted like an idiot on occasion. Red Robin was excellent, and even _he_ was a handful...

"I have written the statement. I just need you all to approve it, and then clear your calendars for the next month. I do not anticipate it taking any more than that length of time to secure 49 recruits. If not, we shall keep going."

"Alright!" Flash jumped to his feet in a blur, and gave Batman the heads up. "Page me when and where and I'll bring the fun. This is going to be great."

"This is so boring. I have never been so bored in my life. Oooooohhhhhh." Flash looked like he was about to go to sleep.

They had waited for the hype of the JL announcement to settle before holding the auditions in the major cities around the US to begin with. As this was going to require recruits to move to the halls of justice for their training, they thought to stay within the country to start with.

The first set of auditions for the JLR had started at 9am this morning. Flash had brought a tray of strong coffee for everyone and wore a big grin. They all sat at a long table in a hall they rented out; Gotham being the first place they were holding the auditions.

It was now 1pm, and every single person who had auditioned was either a nutter, had an extensive criminal record, belonged to the joker, just wanted their autographs, or failed the questions section.

"Shut up Flash." Diana hissed, clearly also annoyed at the turn out.

"Hay bats." Flash turned to his other side, and dared to poke the dark crusader. "This is your home turf, right? Why is everyone a waste of space? It thought there would be someone decent here? Having been your prowling grounds?"

"There was. They're called Nightwing and Robin." Batman was also pissed off. The amount of Super powered villains that crawled out of the wood work to kick his ass on a regular basis, and not one wanting to be a good guy turned up? Really?

"Well, at least we're only here for another hour, right?"

"E-excuse me."

All the un-amused, tired, caffeine deprived, psychotically pissed off Justice League power house members turned and narrowed their eyes down at the new comer.

"Name?" Batman sounded as bored as Flash.

"V-Vivian Harper. S-sir."

She was 5'7, had long ginger hair, a block fringe covering her forehead, and her brown eyes from the way she looked down at the floor. She was dressed in a pair of tatty white trainers, baggy brown jeans and a green woolly jumper that was so big on her tiny frame, it hung off one shoulder.

She looked like a timid little mouse. So incredibly scared, she kept telling herself this was a mistake. Vivian Harper was a loser. She had always been a loser. "Sorry, I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry. I'll just-"

"Age." Batman raised a brow at her, not _yet_ seeing anything special. But he didn't want her to run off out of fear if she did turn out to be the real deal. "Cover the door." He whispered to Flash, who appeared in front of the door quicker than you could blink. "I said Age?"

"17." Her lips trembled, now looking at Flash standing in the door way, preventing her quick escape.

"Are you currently in education?"

"No sir."

"Are you currently living with anyone over the age of consent?"

"No sir. I should really leave-"

"Are you living on the street?"

Everyone was shocked by that question. It wasn't one of the questions on the prepared tick list. "I only ask as you are under age, not living with an adult, and your clothes look far too big for you. You also look like you haven't eaten a decent meal in a long time." her skin was pale, and she had deep bags around her eyes. said brown orbs snapped over to Batman, for a moment, before looking down to her feet, and nodding.

"Have you ever committed a crime?"

"...yes sir."

"What kind of crime have you committed?"

"Th-theft, sir. Only food, or money, but only for food." She closed her eyes and held herself, feeling hunger pains stabbing at her ribs. "I should leave. S-sorry." She whimpered and ran for the door.

"Hold on there little lady."

"Please move." Flash held his hands up to appear as non-threatening as possible, but didn't move out the way.

"Hay, stealing to eat isn't as bad as all that. Let us help you-"

"No. No one helps me. Move aside." Vivian held her fists at her sides, and started to stare intently at the speedster.

"Just hold on a-"

"Move aside. Now."

One foot moved.

Then another.

The remaining members of the Justice league rose to their feet as Flash, the most wilful stubborn man in the room, slowly side stepped out of the way of the door, never breaking eye contact with red head. "Stay there."

"...yes..." Vivian, anticipating being knocked down by one of the others any second now, bolted for the door.

She got three steps outside, before a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, and lifted her waif of a body off the floor.

"No! Put me down!" She screamed, turning her face to stare into the cold orange eyes of the Martian Manhunter. She faltered for a moment, unsure of herself in the face of such a strange man, but glared at him all the same. Her need to survive and escape greater than her fear. She focused on him and thought as forcefully as she could. _"Put me down right now!"_

"_No, I shall not Vivian Harper." _"Aaaaaah!" Vivian screamed, struggling with all her might as J'onn walked backwards with her back into the hall. Her whole head seemed to vibrate as his voice wordlessly boomed there, freaking her the hell out.

"This one is a telepath. Her mind is quite weak. She has so far told us no lies however. She is 17 and 6 and a half months of age, has been an orphan since her parents turned her out at the age of 9. Her abilities scared them greatly, it seems. They also abused narcotics on a regular basis." Vivian froze in place, registering a soft vibrating sensation in the core of her mind. He was reading her entire life from her mind, and he wasn't even looking at her. "Strange, how human parents can turn out their offspring so easily. In any case she has been living on the streets and using her telepathy to convince people to hand over money and food, as she stated previously. She is also very hungry and has not consumed water for 2 days, food for 3 and a half days."

"A telepath. Will you take her?" Batman was furiously filling in the profile page on her and looked to the Manhunter.

"Indeed. I shall now take her for some sustenance."

"Take my card." Batman lifted a JL funds card (funded by Wayne industries) and threw it over at J'onn's direction. It hovered before the Martian and followed them out of the room.

Vivian had long since stopped struggling in his grasp. He walked with her little body in his arms, feet dangling as he walked out of the county building and into the nearest diner. He sat her down at the counter and sat next to her.

It was so bizarre Vivian questioned if she had finally gone inside.

"_You have not gone inside. You simply didn't expect this scenario to unfold as it has. You will adjust." _Vivian fisted her hair at either side of her head, as if trying to block out a loud noise. _"Is this better?"_ his voice was much softer in her head, the vibrations more like the level of an electric toothbrush, than a booming sonic drill.

"Yes thank you."

"_Do not use your words. I am giving you access to my mind. Do so."_

"...i'm afraid to..." He turned in his seat to look at her directly, making her flinch. He was so tall, so big a presence in her mind all the time. his physical presence was also overbearing as well. How would she cope?

She dropped her eyes from his scorching orange ones to look at his feet. His boots were action ready and deep blue, as were the large shorts he wore. They were attached to a thick red belt with a golden buckle. She couldn't make out the markings on it. He had a pair of thick red straps over his muscular chest, in the shape of an X, which seemed to attach to a large blue cape. The collar of it stood up for a few inches before curving backwards, making his neck look longer.

He was definitely an alien.

She had heard of the Justice League and the Martian Manhunter, but to see him it was obvious he wasn't human. His skin was green, for a start. He had a very strong brow, and he was inhumanly muscular. He had an 8 pack, strong flat pecks and biceps that were quite possibly larger than her head. His eyes captivated her however. Whether it was her need for eye contact to control someone, or the deep black rings that surrounded temperamental orange orbs, she didn't know. But she was soon staring into their depths again.

"Now you have sized me up, are you content that you are not in danger Vivian Harper?"

"...I..." She croaked in her throat, and immediately looked to her fidgeting hands on her knees. "Sorry."

"Have you wronged me Vivian Harper?"

"I looked at you." She gulped, feeling a curious buzzing in her head. No sooner did she wish it would stop, did the feeling of his presence in her mind disappear completely. It caused her to look up at him again.

"As a fellow telepath I assumed you would be comfortable with communicating internally. I was incorrect. We shall communicate verbally in this initial stage. You have not wronged me Vivian Harper. Assessing those around you and analysing the situation before proceeding, are very wise abilities indeed. I am the Martian Manhunter. You may call me this, or you may call me J'onn, if you so wish."

"Then erm, please call me Vivian." How bowed his head regally, and then looked over to a waitress, who had watched the exchange and looked like she was contemplating running a mile.

"I wish to order Vivian some food." He then looked to her, and so did the freaked out waitress.

"...i'll take whatever I can. Food is food."

"...we have a special on at the moment...order a burger and fries and pancakes or waffles, we throw in a free coffee."

"That sounds expen-"

"That sounds to be very high in calories. She shall have one of those." He then produced the credit card, which the waitress snapped off him, ran to the till and ran the order through. She then cautiously returned the card, and poured them both a coffee, muttering that the martian's was on the house.

"...thanks, but I don't have anything to pay you back with?" Vivian tucked her hair behind her ears, and looked at the stoic man with curious brown eyes.

"As my pupil you are in my care. You do not have to repay me with any sort of currency. Your welfare is my concern now."

"...pupil?" Vivian blinked madly, before leaning forward with a cautious smile. "You mean I'm not in trouble?"

"No."

"And I'm going to be a justice league recruit?" She hushed, not wanting anyone to overhear.

"Indeed. Once you have been given nourishment, I shall take you to your new accommodation in the halls of justice. You will no longer be required to steal food to survive, it will be provided. I expect you to sleep and gather your strength for my training. I have no intention on being a gentle teacher. Your powers do have the potential to be dangerous, despite your intentions, if you do not have the correct level of competence to control them." He then took a sip of his coffee, looking so strange.

"Martians like coffee?" Vivian's eyes bugged out wide, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. "S-sorry! I just-"

"Martians like many things. We simply are not as vocal about it as humans."

This stoic cryptic alien was her new mentor. What _has_ she gotten herself in to?


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh dear lord." Hawkgirl hung her head in her hands as the final applicant walked through the door.

She had two large pigtails of thick black hair on either side of her head, falling to her elbows. Her bangs framed either side of her face. She had deep blue eyes that sparkled with mischief. On top of her head, in the middle, slanted forward to cover one of her eyes was a black, sparkly witches had. It had a red ribbon around it, and instead of a buckle there was a large silver broom stick brooch on the front. Black long feathers were stitched into the right left side of the hat, swaying with every movement of her head. Framing her cheeky blue eyes were long black lashes, and demanding attention were her ruby red lips, also sparkling. Her dress was black, sparkling eerily, with a low V neck to show off her long neck and ample cleavage. It was fitted to her waist with a red belt with a silver broom buckle, like her hat, and the skirt had jagged edges, fluffed up with a red underskirt. Her tights had black and red stripes on it, and she even wore black witchy boots, with a high heel, red laces up the front and knee high. The sleeves of her dress were nonexistent, but she did wear delicate fingerless black lace gloves.

This woman sashayed into the room and stood before the JL panel with an air of confidence that none of the other candidates had. Other than the other nutjobs, of course...

"Lady, if you say you're a witch, I'm leaving right now." Hawkgirl snapped, about ready to fly this coop before she killed someone. The amount of weirdoes that walked in wearing a pair of wings and declaring undying love for her was enough to make her claw her own eyes out.

"Seeya then." She waved at her grinning. "Because that's _exactly_ what I am. I'm Luna the Good Witch. But you can call me Luna for short."

"Seriously?" Hawkgirl looked to Batman, who had his head in his hands. He then turned to look at Superman, who was looking back at him awkwardly.

"This woman is clearly another crazy."

"You do it. I'll chew a cyanide pill if I have to question another nutter. It's your turn anyway."

"But-" Batman shoved the checklist of questions in front of Superman, then dropped his forehead on the desk. Superman stared at his seemingly I've-lost-the-will-to-go-on friend, then forced himself to put his best business smile on to the latest fruit loop stood before them. "I guess I'll start this thing then." He chuckled nervously, clicking the pen and looking from her to the form. it hadn't passed his notice she was now glaring at them with her hands on her hips. "Well your name you've told us..." he scribbled it down, casting a desperate sideways glance at Diana, who shook her head. No way he was shoving this on her. "...Age?"

"23."

"Have you ever committed a crime."

"I wrote on a survey that my religion was Jedi once." The man of steel flashed his eyes up at her with the intention of showing her he wasn't impressed. Only to gulp nervously at the fiery gaze that little woman was aiming at him. he then looked back to the form, writing 'no' as the answer to that question.

"As you are over the age of consent, would you be willing to relocate to the halls of justice for you training if accepted today?"

"...obviously...or I wouldn't be here..." He could _hear_ the pissy in her voice.

"And your power is...?" he then put the clip board down, folded his arms and looked at her with a raised brow, faking curiosity.

"Oh my gawd. Seriously?" Luna folded her arms and stomped her foot. "I'm a freaking WITCH! What _power_ do you _think _I have?!"

"...so you want me to put...?"

"Magic, obviously. Jeez." Luna turned on the spot, showing them her back as she tried to stop herself snarling at them. She took a deep breath, span back round on her heels and put her hands on her hips. "As you lovelies _clearly_ don't believe me, would you care for a demonstration? Or are you too busy sleeping, or being to up your own asses to pay attention for 30 seconds?" she hissed, and Batman raised his head off the table.

Well, now she had everyone's attention. "Any requests?"

"Alright princess, I'll play." Flash jumped from out of his desk, and appeared next to her. she flinched at the sudden movement, but collected herself as she turned to look at him.

"Alright skippy, what do you want me to do?"

"Turn Hawkgirl's hawk wings into butterfly wings."

"Oh yeah, do that!" Hawkgirl barked a laugh and smacked her hands on the table with mirth. Diana however started to focus her eyes on her. Luna turned to look at Hawkgirl with a grin.

A grin.

That was not the sign of a pretender about to make excuses, or a crazy person...

"Alright then." Luna blew into her hands, mirth and something else sparkling in her eyes. she opened her hands, palm up, and blew the air from her hands towards Hawkgirl. Said huntress started to cackle with laughter when...her back started to tingle.

No...she couldn't have...

"...Shayera...your...wings are..." Diana had jumped to her feet, and was pointing at her friend's back. Hawkgirl slowly turned to look behind her...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A!" she jumped to her feet and started flapping her enormous white insect wings, which buzzed as they moved. "Turn my wings back, turn them back now!" She screamed, jumping over the table to attack that little bitch. As she got close, Luna grabbed her nose, and appeared to sneeze. A puff of smoke was all the met Hawkgirl's reaching hands.

"I don't do anything unless I'm asked nicely." Superman stiffened in his seat, hearing that voice not only coming from near him...but above him.

Hovering above his head on a long silver broom stick, was Luna the 'good' witch. "Hi there. So you going to _seriously_ put magic as my power now? or perhaps, you and the other rude none believers, would like some more demonstrations?" Luna looked to Batman, and blew him a kiss from the palm of her hand.

"OH MY GOD!? WHERE IS MY CAMERA?!" Flash was immediately zooming around the room, looking for his backpack and his camera to snap this moment for all time.

Batman's famous bat suit...was bright pink...with fluffy bunnies on springs where his bat ears were...

"I'll kill you!"

"Catch me first battsy!" Luna zoomed forward on her broom into the centre of the room, and then started pointing her fingers around the room. Causing explosions of silver glitter to appear and fill the room.

As the JL members tried to wrangle the witch down, she successfully managed to turn Diana's hair orange, put flash in nothing but his mask and his underpants, which she changed into a green mankini. With a bunny tail, for good measure. Zooming around the room, she then put Superman in a frilly yellow dress with sombrero, and a long white goatee. The floor suddenly became slippery so none of the supers could chase her anymore. After at least 30mins of being made a fool of by this girl, Luna landed on the floor, holding her sides as she had stitches from laughing so hard. "Ok ok, that's enough I think." She waved her hand at the floor, which returned to its usual level of traction, and narrowed her eyes on the multicoloured and very scrambled justice league. Lune bent over, rubbed her hands together, and then blew a kiss at them.

In a puff of smoke, they were all 1, returned to their normal states, and 2, sat behind their desks. It took a few moments of checking themselves over, and staring at her before they seemed to come back to reality. "So, my super power? Please put magic."

"Ahem (coughs to clear his throat), magic it is." Superman quickly scribbled that down. "And your reason for wanting to join the justice league is...?"

"Because I'm a good witch." Luna stepped forward, reducing her silver brook with a flick of the wrist to once again become the ornate silver broom brooch and returned it to the centre piece of her witch hat. "I have fantastic powers. Not just the ability to change your uniforms into dresses or change their colours." She pumped her fist into her hand, looking a lot like batman with her determination. "I can create anything I want, I can set things on fire, I can move objects with my magic, I can erase a person's memory or turn a person into a mouse. I am not a fun parlour act." Her eyes were stern and Batman leaned forward, pressing his lips to his interlocked fingers in thought. "I have so much to give. I am a witch. I walked in here today in full costume to make a point. I have never been able to be myself. My real self. You guys, you are all wearing costumes right now." She waved her hand, indicating them all. "Your real selves are the people behind the masks and fantastic powers. The people who go home to their loved ones and can pass for a normal person. I'm a witch. Being a normal person, _is_ a mask to me. This-" she waved her hands down her body. "_is_ the real me. I am brimming with magic and never get to use it, and if I do it's never to do anything that matters. I want to be myself. I want to fit in. I want to matter. I want to help." She was focused on Superman's warm blue eyes. he was the one holding her form.

"I think we need to take your contact details and-"

"No." Superman cut Batman off, catching the dark night off guard. "You could clearly see that none of us believed in you or what you could do when you first walked in here. You could have lashed out with your magic at us and taken revenge, but instead you made us run around and had a laugh." Superman chuckled, writing something on the form. "I think you do have a lot to give, and you clearly feel passionate about joining our ranks and helping people. So I say yes." Superman then looked to Batman, to see if he'd challenge him.

"...i'm _not_ taking her."

"I'll call Zatanna for you, but I'm not taking her either." Diana added, running her fingers through her luscious ebony locks, looking like she was still traumatised.

"Then...i guess I'll take her then." Superman cleared his throat and looked to her. "But no putting me in a dress again." He pointed at her and looked down at her sternly. "I mean it."

"Yes sir! I won't let you down sir!" in a poof of smoke Luna appeared on the desk in front of the man of steel, making him jump back in his chair. "So where do I go now? I'm not sure where the hall of justice is?" she giggled, sat cross legged on the desk and looking at her awkwardly terrified kryptonian mentor with glee.

"...here's a map..."

"I'll see you there then, k?"

"...ok..."

"You like apple pie?" Clark blinked, then smiled with his head cocked to one side.

"Sure, why?"

"I'll make you an apple pie. Oo!" She placed a finger to her lip and looked up with thought. "Maybe apple and cinnamon pie...and whipped cream...and ice cream! See you there!" She pulled her brooch off her had, flicked it out at one side to it's full size, and then rolled off the desk backwards. She landed on her broom and zoomed up and out an open window with a large grin on her face.

"...what have you signed up for?" Hawkgirl was still stroking her wings, making the decision she would never mock anyone again, crazy or not.

"I'm not sure, but there is apple and cinnamon pie involved, so it can't be all that bad." Clark Kent patted his stomach with a smile. The boy that grew up on the farm used to always look forward to apple pie.

"A whole day and we only found two candidates. At his rate, it will take longer than a month to meet our quota..." Batman was typing something into his tablet as the tired, and emotionally scarred justice league veterans dragged themselves out of the hall, to go to the next town, to do it all over again...

"Wow, you look hungry." Vivian Harper stopped stuffing her face, and looked up to see the strangest girl she had ever seen. She was dressed head to toe in a Halloween costume. A witch costume. "I'm Luna. Can I sit here? Everyone else looks like they are too busy looking at themselves in a mirror, or sprinkling steroids on their cornflakes." She giggled, her long black pigtails bouncing with the movement. She sat, without receiving an answer from the meek red head.

"I'm Vivian. Yeah, the others are all big men aren't they? Kinda scary."

"Yeah, seems you and I are the only gals here. I'm Luna the good witch, you?" Vivian raised a brow, and looked deep into the sparky woman's deep blue eyes...to see _just_ what she did to the justice League.

"Wow a real witch. I didn't think those existed." Vivian bowed her head, and downed the rest of her water hastily, so used to consuming all water and food quickly so it wasn't taken from you.

"...you believe me? Just like that?" The girl beamed a smile at her.

"No, I read your mind first. Batman in pink is funny." She giggled softly, seeing the witch's left eye twitch.

"I'm sorry...you read...my _mind?_"

"Yeah. Sorry. I do that."

"wow...cool." Luna took a bite out of her sandwich and cocked her head to one side, as if trying to read _her_ mind. "...what am I thinking right now?" Vivian blinked, looked into her focused eyes, and nodded.

"You wish your sandwich had more mayo."

"OH MY GAWD that is AMAZING!" She flapped her hands at her sides, shuffled in her seat, then held her hand out for her. "You are so cool. Let's be friends, k?"

"...why?"

"Huh? I need a reason?" the witch cocked her head to one side again and laughed. "Coz your cool. I'm a good judge of character anyway. We'll be great friends."

"...ok..." Vivian tucked her hair behind her ears, blinking down at her empty plate.

"Cool threads."

"Oh these? My mentor bought them for me..." shortly after eating her food at the diner, J'onn, as she'd decided to call him, took her to the JL tailor. They made her a plane blue skin suit, made of some sort of breathable high endurance spandex. It had a red X on the front. She didn't like it. It was tight to her skin and everyone could see how skinny she was. J'onn had heard her thoughts and told her it was designed to stretch with her as she grew. She'd fill it out, he said. She smoothed her hands over her ribs, feeling them under her fingers if she pressed down. She tucked her hair behind her ears again, looking out through a Red X shaped eye mask at her new 'friend'.

"Who did you get?" Vivian snapped her brown eyes back up, and put on a timid smile.

"The Martian Manhunter. Because of the mind reading thing."

"I got Superman. Because I pissed everyone else off too much to take me."

"I saw."

"Though, the Martian wasn't there."

"He might have been with me. Are you from Gotham?"

"Yeah! We were recruited on the same day! See, we will be great friends." Luna nodded happily and attacked her sandwich, looked down at her friends empty plate, and nodded her head. Three cheese burgers appeared there. "I have perks too, you know."

"Thank you." Vivian bowed her head, and started stuffing her face.

"So the Justice league are in where now?"

"Hmm? Oh in Metropolis I think. Wait a minute." Vivian managed to lock eyes with one of the large brutes flexing a muscle with a dumbbell across the room. "Yes, in Metropolis."

"You are so freaking cool. However." Luna finished her sandwich. "If superman thinks he's having any say in what I wear like your mentor has, I'll turn him into a turtle." The sound of choking caught the witch's attention. The telepath had spurted water back into the cup at that. "What? I'm a witch and I will _dress _like one. You look cool, but I'd hardly look like a witch in a skin suit would I?" Vivian sensed she wasn't to answer that one.

"How long is he going to be?"

"Don't get impatient Flash."

"But he's been outside for 30 minutes now. I want to get started!"

"Flash, this is his turf and he's a public figure out here. Let him talk to the people." Diana chuckled as Flash verbally and Batman silently brooded over Superman talking to the masses and kissing babies whilst they had to sit there and wait for him.

"Just let me come inside."

"No Lois, I can't."

"But these auditions for super heroes have already been to Gotham. You're only in town for one day. Come on Superman, give me the exclusive! Let there be someone there to represent the people for the finding of the newest editions to the world's peace keepers! Come on please!"

"No Lois, I can't." Superman chuckled and waved her off, having dodged her pleas for the last 10 minutes as he signed shirts and books for kids and adults alike.

"But this is the story of a life time! Talent scouting the saviours of tomorrow! You _have_ to let me in!" She flipped her hair over one shoulder, looking at her with her dark brown eyes with fiery determination. "Let. Me. In."

"No. I. Can't." Superman smiled. "Have a nice day Lois."

"But Superman you can't-"

He stepped through the door and closed it. For good measure, he bent the metal handles together. Knowing Lois she would try to force her way in if at all possible. And just as he thought, a few seconds later, the door clinked like someone was trying to push it open. Superman smiled to himself and walked back to the main hall, and took his place at the table. He looked from Batman on his left and Flash to his right, to wonder why on earth they were both glaring at him?

"Alright. Name?" A woman had also been patiently waiting for Superman to take his place so they could get on with the selection process. She was 6 feet tall, wore black trainers, black shorts and plain black tank top with a yellow jacket on. Her hair was ebony and thick, braided to her head, falling wildly down her back. She had large breasts packed into her tank top, a perfectly rounded bum and powerful looking thighs, hips and shoulders. Her eyes were a golden Amber, standing out as they were framed by a black masquerade mask. She was an African beauty, Flash thought. She should be in a gorgeous evening dress with those breasts and legs.

"_Oooooo or some hot pants and a bakini top? Or nothing at all...mmmmm..." _

"My name is...you want my real name?"

"Your hero name is fine." Batman waited but still looked at the form.

"Miss Swift." She folded her arms over her large bust. And looked over the panel.

"Age?"

"25."

"Ability?"

"Super speed."

"Oh really?" Flash interjected then, vaulted over the desk and zoomed over to her. "May _I _be the judge of that?"

"Sure whatever, as long as you get up out of my face fool." Flash took a step back and put his hands up. He was grinning from ear to ear and winked at her through his mask.

"Alright honey, show me what you've got."

"Oh no he didn't. He did _not_ just call me Honey._"_ Miss Swift shrugged her jacket off to the floor and crouched down. "Name it sweetheart." She blew him a smart ass kiss, and he crouched too, looking thrilled with this development.

"A race?"

"...Flash...not sure thats a good id-"

Both of the rash supers were out of sight in a 'flash'.

"You're lagging behind!" Flash shouted back over his shoulder. He was in truth going full belt, whizzing through unsuspecting people and up the side of a skyscraper. Hot on his tail though was a black blur.

"I'll catch your punk ass, just you wait!" she was laughing though, not having had anyone to run with like this before. Let alone anyone _faster_ than her. He suddenly stopped so she over took him. As Miss Swift looked over her shoulder, she saw he was right behind her, and staring at her ass. "Mother f-" She skidded to a stop, forgetting that without the momentum...she was fall. As she started to hurtle downwards Flash appeared next to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her close enough to the side of the building she could get traction on her feet, and run back down on her own.

"Follow me slow poke." Miss Swift snarled to herself, embarrassed that she had needed his help (or die) and followed him back to the hall.

Once they skidded to a stop in the middle of the hall, Flash folded his arms and looked at her with his game face on. "You are defiantly a rookie, but you have promise. You need to be able to follow my instructions however. Can you do that?" She wanted to ask if she could have someone else. This punk kid was clearly attracted to her, and that wound her up more than anything. Men were always grabbing at her ass and she wasn't about to let this guy do it too, member of the justice league or not!

"...you going to be professional with my training?"

"Of course." Flash nodded.

"So?"

"Yes I'll do as I'm told."

"Good. I'll take this one." Flash zipped back to the desk, and looked like he'd never moved. "She has a lot of promise." He leaned over to Superman and whispered softly. "And a _really _nice ass too."

"You'll get yourself in trouble one of these days Flash, I swear." Superman snickered to himself and looked to Batman.

"One last question. Why would you like to join the justice league?"

"Because I'm fed up of bullies kicking the little guy around. I used to be the little guy, and now I've got powers I can kick any fool's ass. But...other people can't defend themselves so easily. It pisses me off. so I want to do something about it. I've got what it takes."

"Well...Flash has already offered to train you..."

"Right, I'll go to the halls of justice then, right?"

"I'll see you there." Flash winked at her and gave her a two finger solute. She rolled her amber eyes, picked up her jacket and zipped out of the door.

"OO la la. Je suis dans l'amour!" Diana, on behalf of all women everywhere, smacked Flash upside the head. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"You. Know."

"Next!" Batman yelled, already regretting this decision.

"So you look pissed off. She does, doesn't she?"

"Yes she does look pissed off. I think she might want to be left alone Luna."

"What the hell are you two supposed to be?" Miss Swift, AKA Lila Jones, raised a brow at the two odd balls in front of her. One was a skinny red head, with a blue skin suit on, a red X on her chest and timid brown eyes. The other was a raven head, with large pigtails that ran to her elbows, a sparkly black witch outfit on, from the boots, the tights, the dress to the hat and gloves. She had bright blue eyes and red lips to match her belt and the sash around her hat.

"Well, I'm Luna, the good witch and yes, I am a real witch. See!" Luna lifted one hand from her tray and blew a kiss at Miss Swift's bowl of noodles, turning each noodle into a writhing earth worm.

"Bitch! Don't do that to a woman's food!" Miss Swift pushed the bowl with such speed, it hit and splat at the wall at the other side of the room. "I feel sick."

"But you trust I'm a-"

"Witch? Hell yeah. Go get me some more food and sit the fuck down. What about you?" She narrowed her amber eyes on the red head. "You aren't going to turn my hair into snakes or nothin', right?"

"No Mam. I'm a telepath." Vivian smiled. She never said that with pride before...

"Oh hell. What the fuck have I signed up for? First a horny mentor now I'm talking to witches and psychics! You!" Vivian bolted stiff at being addressed so firmly. "Sit down and stay the fuck out of my head. Got it?"

"Yes Mam."

"And for the love of god, _don't_ call me Mam. I'm 25, not 65. Damn girl. I'm called Miss Swift anyway. Now sit." Vivian hurriedly scrambled to the opposite seat. It had been a week since she'd gotten here, so she finally had enough meat on her bones to have soft curves underneath the blue skin suit. It made her feel much more confident in front of people.

"I got you some more macaroni and cheese. That ok?"

"Damn right you got me some more mac'N'Cheese." The speedster took the bowl and looked sternly at the raven haired pixie. "No messin' with my food again, you dig?"

"Sure. Did she tell you her name yet?" Luna turned to Vivian.

"Oh yes, she's called Miss Swift."

"Ah, well that makes sense with the outfit."

"Oh don't get me _started_ about the outfit..." Lila had arrived at the halls of justice, had to be processed at the same pace as everyone else, which was snail pace and really pissed her off. By the time she actually got to her room, there was a parcel on the bed. She was now wearing it, as Flash had attached a note saying he wasn't going to train her unless she wore it... It was a black skin suit, with a red lighting flash on the chest and red go faster stripes, everywhere expect her breasts and abdomen. The boots and gloves attached were the same pattern with a red lightning bolt on the rims, much like her mentor. "I look like a mini-flash."

"I thought you _were_ a mini-flash?" Miss Swift glared. Vivian and Luna froze and gulped, deciding it was best not to piss her off.

"...Luna...you _don't _want to know what she's _thinking_..."

"I told you to stay out of my head!" The hot blooded woman snapped at her, narrowing her amber orbs at her.

"I can't help it when you're shouting your thoughts at me!" Vivian squeaked. "I'm sorry! Please don't wring my neck like a towel!"

"Listen, you're not allowed to piss me off if I don't even know your name. What is it?"

"Oh, it's-"

"Mystic X." Luna interjected. "You can't give out your real name. Remember that. We agreed that Mystic X sounds cool." Luna nodded at her, and then turned to Miss Swift and her raised brow. "And you know I'm Luna, and you are Miss Swift. Right. We're friends now. And other than a girl that turns invisible, who keeps vanishing, we are the only girls here so far."

"Damn, really? A whole week and half in and the only girls I got to socialise with are you two? Damn I am going to have to train you two how to be social."

"Oh, speaking of training, who is your mentor? Mine is Superman." Luna nodded her head, making her pigtails bob with her.

"And mine is the Martian Manhunter." Vivian added.

"I got...Flash...pervy boy of the year...thus the wannabe suit..." She hung her head over, and signed, stabbing her mac n cheese sadly. "It's going to be a tough few years, I can see it now..."

"well, at least you have us, right?" Luna beamed, giving her a thumbs up, and seemed unfazed by the grimace on the African bombshell's face.


	3. Chapter 3

"...ok...name?" Batman looked at the figure before the panel. They were in New York now, of all places, and in front of him was...an enigma. All he could see was a large person, wrapped up in some sort of enormous blanket.

"...Eve Willows." Ok so it was a woman. A large woman wrapped up in a large blanket, with a soft timid voice.

"Right...age?"

"...22." Batman sighed deeply, preparing himself for the next question.

"And your ability is?"

"...oh...I'm strong. And I can fly. And I...I'm scary." Hawkgirl perked up at this.

"You got wings under there Eve?"

"Yes mam." She whispered, and you could see her holding onto the blanket tighter.

"We need proof of ability. So whip that blanket off and let's fly." Hawkgirl flapped her wings, stretching them for flight. _Finally_ she might have found a pupil who could fly with _actual_ wings. All her recruits so far used magic or were meta humans like superman. There was no replacing the skill required to manoeuvre with good old fashioned wings.

"Oh, n-no I couldn't. I'm scary. I wouldn't want you to attack me." The fear in her voice was evident. She started backing away from the panel and trembling. Batman rose to his feet, slowly making his way around the table. He beckoned for Hawkgirl to follow him, also anticipating that she would be this woman's mentor.

"We won't attack you. We would never attack someone coming to us for help." Batman got within arms' reach, and could see she was shaking through the blanket.

"I have wings. See?" Hawkgirl turned and flapped her wings a few times to get her attention. "Having wings isn't scary."

"I'm a demon." Batman and Hawkgirl halted in their place.

"...pardon?" Batman reached forward, his hand close to fabric covering her face. In a gap he could finally see the glimmer of eyes. Red eyes.

"I'm a d-demon. D-don't hurt me!"

"I won't hurt you." Eve released the blanket and opened her wigs to their full span. Like flowing liquid the blanket fell backwards onto the floor and her true form was revealed to the room. Her skin was a dark grey. Her feet looked calloused, with sharp toe nails and wide feet. Her legs were long and very muscular. She wore tatty torn black shorts and a dirty white tank top. It was a tank top. But it was jagged at the edges and the abdomen was completely torn away. She had large breasts under that tank top, wide shoulders and strong arms. Her fingers were tipped with dark black talons for tearing at flesh. Her face was framed with shoulder length chaos black hair. Curving from the top of her skull and backwards were two ivory horns. Her wings were enormous, magnificent in width. They were bat like wings. Demon wings. The very top of the wing had the typical three clawed digits on them, making them look even fiercer. The inside of her wings were black, the back and the spins as dark grey as the rest of her. Her eyes were crimson red, with a black slit in them. Her teeth were sharp, with her canines sharp as fangs. Her face though...other than being grey, it looked very beautiful. Perhaps this is what a succubus looks like, Batman thought. Deadly, but enticing all the same. Just like her eyes. Hawkgirl had stumbled backwards a long time ago. Batman had stayed rooted to the spot, staring at her. Eve held herself, and timidly looked back. She was confused as to why he hadn't yelled and backed off like everyone else. As she scanned the rest of the room, they all looked shocked beyond words at her appearance.

"So?" Her crimson eyes flashed back to the dark knight. "I still need to see you show me your abilities."

"...oh!" Eve took her arms away from their protective position over her middle, and rose her wigs to their full height. She pounded them downwards and immediately kicked up a wind. A few more beats and she was in the air. The vastness of her wings caused a constant breeze in the room, and it became apparent this wasn't something she was used to doing in a confined space as a conference hall. She was hovering up and down, stopping herself from hitting the ceiling a few times.

"Now you said strength." Batman folded his arms, regarding her flying above him, casting a very 'familiar' shadow over his form. Eve nodded and glided down, landing with a soft patter in front of him.

"May I?" She timidly held her arms out to him. "There aren't any weights here."

"Alright." Batman unfolded his arms and opened his cloak. Eve hesitated, seeing the Bat wing design of his cloak and smiling timidly. He wasn't afraid of her. no one had _ever_ looked at her with anything by fear.

"Ok, I'll be gentle." Eve placed her shaking talon tipped hands on either side of his waist. With ease expected of Superman, she lifted him above her head like a wooden board.

"Ok-ok now put me down."

"Yes sir." Eve put him down, and stepped back, immediately returning to holding herself timidly.

"Now you said you were scary." Batman folded his arms and cocked his head to one side. "So scare me." Eve just blinked at him with those brilliant red eyes.

"...I'm scary all the time."

"No you're not. You look scared, not scary. Now scare me. Do it."

"Erm...Batman? are you insane?" Hawkgirl stepped up to her companion and whispered in his ear. "You _can_ see her, _right?_"

"I can. She's a scared little girl." The dark crusader growled, ensuring Eve could hear him. "Shame really. With her ability to fly and her strength, she would have been a brilliant candidate for the justice league recruit program. But looking like that _no one_ will take her seriously. Especially not the enemy. I've seen pretty girls and boys stand in front of me and look scarier than she does. And she's got fangs." Batman was intentionally trying to piss her off. And when he mentioned fangs, she flinched. "And then there are those crazy red devil eyes."

"I am NOT a DEVIL." Eve roared, making everyone, excluding Batman, take a step back and crouch into a fighting position. Her arms flew behind her, talons bared and ready for action. She hissed from deep in her chest and her wings spread out wide.

"Good. You can get angry. Welcome to the justice league recruit program. I'll be your mentor." Eve blinked, and lowered her body back into its shy position. She held her elbows and wrapped her wings around her shoulders. Batman held a hand out for her to take, and waited. Eve looked at the hand, then lifted one of her own before her face for inspection.

"You...you're really not scared of me?"

"No, not at all. But I'll make your enemies fear you. Now take my hand." She stepped towards him, and put her shaking hand into his. Batman wrapped his fingers around it, looking down at her hand to find it to feel delicate in his grasp. Her wings made her appear bigger than she was. She was probably as tall as he was, and her hands were smaller than his.

"Are you sure you want to be her mentor?" Superman appeared by his side, arms folded over his famous S emblem on his chest. "I could tutor her how to control her super strength. Or Hawkgirl could teach her to be an aerial fighter."

"No. Her image is both curse and her gift." She was captivated by the dark knight, feeling his every word imprint itself in her mind forever. "This is something she will need to nurture to use to her advantage. I think we can all agree that the one who can best train her to be a terrifying force to be reckoned with, it is me." Batman started to pull her towards the door."You want to be my mentor?" her voice was so timid, you almost questioned if it came from such a mighty creature.

"Yes."

"...Thank you." Her demonic red orbs watered with tears and she smiled brightly. Even though two fangs protruded from her lips, her smile was still breathtaking. "No one has ever wanted to be near me before. Not for any reason. I will obey and do exactly as you say sir."

"Good. That is always the best way when dealing with me. You will find me to be a very strict and demanding mentor." Batman then looked back to their hands. "Due to the nature of my new recruit, I will escort her back to the halls of justice. I'll trust you continue this stage of the auditions without me." The Dark night used his other hand to point deftly at Flash. "I will not have any more recruits assigned to me as Eve makes 7. Try not to recruit anyone who will blow up the halls of justice while I'm gone."

"Jeez no idea why you're saying that to _me_." Flash pouted off to one side returning to his fantasy of him chasing a certain super fast kitty...when he was back at base and alone in his room, he'd continue the fantasy to involve catching her... "Let's go." Batman started to pull her, but was jerked to a stop.

"I need my blanket.""No you don't. You shouldn't be afraid or ashamed of yourself."

"But-"

"Are you disobeying me?" Watery red eyes widened at him, and she shook her head violently, whipping her thick black hair around her as she did. "Good. Then follow me."

Batman dragged the she-demon out of the hall and out a back door. More for her benefit than his. Still holding her hand, he pulled what looked like a usb stick from his utility belt and pressed a button. They waited there like that, Eve looking nervously down at their joined hands. Very soon she could hear the chopping noise of metal cutting through the air got closer and closer. The Batplane hovered above them and a long black rope descended through an open hatch, coming to a stop in front them. Batman clipped the end of the line to his belt and turned to his new student. "You will need to either hold onto me, or fly up into the plane."

"I can fly into it."

"I will enter it first so it doesn't attack you." He stated manner of factly, pressed a button, and zipped up into the plan. He released her hand as he ascended and ignored his reluctance to do so. Once inside his plane he instructed the computer that there would be another passenger and not to automatically eject them. Moments later Batman heart the metallic sound of a heavy person landing inside the main hull of the ship. He sat in the control chair and started keying instructions into the keypad. The hatch closed, and the ship jerked forward. Her smirked to himself when he heard his newest recruit tumble over from the force of the plane moving. "You will need a new name and new attire. Once I have dropped you off at the halls of justice I will have our tailor make you something. On that note, stand next to me for a moment."

"Yes sir." Eve crawled over to the control chair and pulled herself up with the consol desk to her feet. Batman pulled a slim camera from his belt and snapped a picture of her.

"Turn around."

"Yes sir." He snapped a picture of her from behind, then returned the camera to his belt.

"Go sit down and be ready for departure, you will have to fly down. I intend to start my errands required for all my recruits. I will meet you later."

"Yes sir."

Eve did as she was told, and departed as instructed when they arrived. It was, as she expected, quite an ordeal once she got there.

"Get back! We are being attacked!"

"No, I'm not an enemy! I'm a Justice league recruit-honest! Batman is my mentor. Call him and he'll-"

"Back!" one of the recruits rubbed his hands together and threw a fireball at her. It burned her arm and caused her to scream in pain, falling on her side and whimpering as they attacked her. She was used to this. Looking like a monster caused people to attack you first, ask questions later. if at all. "Ouch!" Eve blinked, opening her crimson eyes, to see her attackers suspended from the ceiling...in a pink furry net...

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Didn't you _hear_ her? she's one of us!"

"Get off us witchy-bitch!"

"OOOooooo you are going to _pay_ for that!" Eve watched, mystified from her position on the floor, as a girl dressed from head to toe in sparkly black clothing, a witch's outfit at that, black and red stripped tights, a black withes had, and what seemed to be a long silver brook stick, snarling and pointing up at the four brutes now trapped in the pink...furry...net..."You _don't_ attack your own! Idiots! You!" the girl turned in her sexy witchy boots and pointed at her "Who is your mentor?"

"...Batman." She whispered, staring up into bright blue eyes, snarling red lips and bouncing black pigtails.

"Ah ha! Batman. The scariest of all the mentors." She turned in her boots again and pointed at the net, which shimmered into nothingness...dropping the brutes to the floor. "And when _I tell Batman_ that _you_ attacked one of his recruits then-"

"NO! We're sorry!"

"She just doesn't look like one of us so-"

"_You_ won't look like one of us when I turn you all into toads! Alakazam!" she waved her hands at them and they ran for their lives. After a few moments she burst into laughter, and turned to look at the mystified she-demon. "alakazam? Really? they're recruiting idiots it seems. I'm Luna the good witch. And you have a burnt arm." Luna squatted in front of her, rubbed her hands together and blew a kiss at her arm. Immediately Eve could feel her arm tingling. Before she could blink her burn was gone! She poked her skin as if to test if it was a mirage. But no, she was completely healed. "Here is where you tell me your name and get up off the floor." Eve pushed up off the ground and stretched her wings once as she gathered herself.

"Thank you...aren't you scared of me?"

"Nah, I'm a witch. I can just poof away from danger in a poof of smoke. And you said you were one of us, so why would I be scared of you?"

"...people here are very strange." Eve gulped, and bowed her head to her rescuer. "My name is..." _you need a new name, that's what he said_.

"Don't you have a hero name?"

"No I don't I mean, I'm supposed to choose one..."

"What do you want your name to say?" Eve nearly jumped out of her skin when her hand was taken by the peppy witch.

"Well..." Eve wrapped her other arm around herself, and wrapped her wings around her shoulders as she was led inside. Everyone was staring at her. hobos in dark alley ways were one thing. This was a hall of people. Openly gaping at her with no shame. "...Batman said I need to make my enemies fear me."

"Well...my grimoire tells tales of ancient demons. There was a demon of fear called Agramon in it. I think that would suit you." Eve found herself dragged over to a table with two other women on it. They both got to their feet and backed off as she approached. Eve took a step backwards, only to be yanked forwards by a testy young witch. "Hay, this is Agramon. She is a she-demon and she's cool. She's a little shy though so let's make her feel welcome, right?" after a few awkward moments, Miss Swift signed and walked right up to the demon.

"Agramon huh? Sounds pretty badass to me. Excuse the copy-cat suit and matching eye mask, as I'm a bit of a badass myself. I'm Miss Swift. I'm Flash's recruit for my sins, and I'm super fast. You?" Eve gulped, and took her hand back from Luna.

"...I'm Agramon." She looked to Luna, apparently her new friend, who nodded at her encouragingly. "...I'm a demon. I'm strong and I can fly. I'm Batman's recruit."

"Hello." Eve turned to look at the other woman. A supple looking red head with big brown eyes. she found herself fixed in place by those eyes, kind yet transfixing. "My name is Mystic X. I grew up on the streets too, I've been here a few weeks now though and it's very nice. It's nice to have friends you can trust too." Eve blinked madly at her, only for the girl to speak again. "Oh I'm sorry. I'm a telepath. I've saw some of your memories growing up as I looked into your eyes just now. I try not to enter people's minds though." She chuckled nervously, taking her seat at the table again. "My mentor is the Martian Manhunter."

"And you know my name is Luna the good witch. I'm magic-tastic, and my mentor is Superman, for _his_ sins!" Luna cackled a laugh, waved her hands, and they all had plates of green jelly in front of them. "Now we will be the best of friends, right?"

"The answer to that is yes, just so you know." The defeated speedster sighed, and stabbed her jelly with her fork, rolling her eyes. "I tried saying no. That results in waking up with her on your bed holding waffles under your nose. Saying no makes her stick to your ass like a barnacle to a whale. She gets even worse with no...the lesser of two evils is to just let her get on with it." She gave her a sympathetic smile and pointed to the seat next to her. "You can sit there as long as you don't try to gnaw on me."

"I wouldn't. I'll eat this." Eve lowered to the seat, spreading her wings behind her on reflex, missing the amazed looks everyone gave her. "What _is _this?"

"It's jelly." Miss swift pushed her hair behind her ears, secretly liking the red braids she was given to attach to the ends of her ebony braids. She shoved a heaped amount of the stuff in her mouth. "It's also better to eat whatever _madam_ conjures up. Trust me."

"Alright, dig in! Soon our mentors will have full teams and our training will begin! I can't wait to run superman ragged!" Luna giggled, delicately shoving half the jelly in her mouth.

"I hope I get to learn many things from my mentor. I'd like to feel more comfortable with him in my mind..." Vivian also dug into her jelly. _he seemed quite upset when he pulled out. like he'd been quite happy to talk telepathically, and I 'ruined it'. _

"Yeah, and I'll make sure that lecherous fool keeps his damn hands off my ass, AND trains me!" they all then looked to the newest member of their 'gang'. Eve tentatively balanced a moderate amount of jelly on her fork and guided it into her mouth. The sensation was bizarre, but the flavour was fantastic. She swallowed it, licked her lips and quickly finished the plate. When she realised they were still looking at her, she realised she was supposed to have a declaration as well.

"Oh, I'll just do whatever Batman tells me to do. He knows best."

There was only one place left on the JL recruitment list. It was getting to the point now where the JL giants just wanted to say yes to the next person to be done with this traumatic ordeal. But alas, Batman kept failing people on the grounds of suitability and criminality. Go figure.

"This is the last one for the day." The dark knight reassured his weary comrades. "She's apparently travelled from...Scotland? Really? that's a long way...regardless the last place is on your team, so you lead it." Batman shoved the clipboard at the bullet proof man, who also looked to be in need of caffeine. It was 7pm at night and they were all ready to go home now.

"Right you are."

"The next one is a girl? Whoever fills the last place should be a woman." Diana nodded at him sternly. "There is only a handful of women amongst the recruits compared to the men. Something I did not foresee happening. Nor am I happy with." She huffed, turning to her winged companion. "Neither of us have any sisters of might to train. All men."

"And none of mine have wings." Hawkgirl joined in the grumble all too happily.

"Let's just see how this one is, shall we?" Clark was getting testy. If the girls were starting to bitch, moral was getting pretty bad. "Next!" he barked, ball point pen poised over the clipboard. The door opened and Batman tensed, thinking an old foe had walked in the room...to see it wasn't quite her.

Her skin was a soft green colour, her long legs and arms bare and supple. Her hair swung as she sauntered into the room, thick and evergreen with little pink blossoms littered throughout her mane. She had big bright emerald orbs and dark green lashes. Her lips were also a dark green, as were her eyebrows and delicate nails. She wore nothing but a green bikini, strapped around her neck like halter neck...the straps of which looked like jungle vines... Swaying with her movements was a long hanging skirt which hung in two pieces. The front expanded over her navel and fell to cover the middle of each thigh down to her ankles. Thicker jungle vines attached this piece of the skirt the larger piece of material that hung at the back, covering her rump and also falling to her feat. The green goddess wore nothing on her feet and grass and daisies sprang from the ground wherever she stepped.

"Is that Poison Ivy!?"

"No Wonder Woman. Ivy has red hair...a relation?"

"No sir." The woman spoke at last, having come to a stop just in front of the interview desk. "I was born this way." She had a soft Scottish accent, and a little bit of the attitude as she put her hands on her hips and raised her head with pride. "I'm a forest Nymph that goes by the honoured name of Gaia." Her voice lulled all the JL members to relax in their seats. "I have travelled a long way to come here and ask to become a justice league recruit. And...ah. Next you want my age." Superman almost jumped through the roof when he saw a large stick insect on his shoulder, looking at the clipboard in his hands. "Although a girl doesn't like to give her age away, I am a blossoming 24." Her arms rose above her and the cherry blossoms in her hair literally bloomed. She giggled, her body oozing with beauty and feminine wiles. "I have never committed a crime as I _usually_ avoid mankind. The forest is so much kinder to my kind than humans." Gaia giggled and winked at a blushing Superman. "But I've decided to make an exception. I'd like to volunteer my services to your cause." She waved a hand in front of her dramatically. "I have what is quite clearly a green thumb. I can grow very potent medicinal herbs and plants, and I am a healer. I would ask that you don't involve me in the fighting, but I have combat capabilities if that's what you'd be needing of me."

Clark found himself gulping deeply as he looked at her. She'd been looking deep into his eyes from the moment she walked in, and he felt a familiar heat rising to his cheeks. "Am I in then sweetheart?"

"I'm the only mentor with a vacancy left. I would be looking to train you in combat, but by all means your healing abilities would be of great use. Is that alright?"

"For you sweetheart, I'll be fine with that." She winked at him and then curtsied to the table. "Thank you for accepting me into your ranks. I'll try to be as useful as possible. Now I'm foreign to these lands. Could someone...take me to the halls of justice? That's where you'll be wanting me to be going, is that right?"

"I'll take you." The kryptonian practically threw himself out from under the table and scuttled to her side. He then chuckled nervously, knowing he'd get some stick for being so eager later on, but right now he didn't care. "I'm superman."

"I'm Gaia." She whispered and wrapped an arm with his. "But we already did this part sugar."

"That we did." He chuckled and walked her out of the hall, leaving some very amused and frustrated justice league heavy hitters to gawk and shake their heads. Superman shoved the security doors open and coughed into one of his hands nervously. "It's quicker for me to fly us there. Do you mind...?"

"Not at all sweetie." Gaia giggled and walked right up to him. Clark blushed madly at the sudden proximity to her and slowly swept her up into his arms. She intimately held onto him around his neck and gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Aren't you sweet?"

"Well...my mother did raise me to be sweet." As soon as he'd said it, he regretted it. how dorky could you get? He was the man of steel and he'd said something akin to a teenage nerd. But could he really be blamed? Even Batman had dropped his schooled mask when she walked into the room. He was drooling mentally just as much as superman was...

"Well to that I'm very grateful." He smiled and looked upward, pushing off and speeding through the air to home base. The green goddess forgot her sexy persona and squealed, gripping to him tightly.

"Oh, sorry. Habit." He slowed down until she relaxed in his grip. Her body was so close to his. The fruity fragrance that filled his nostrils was so beautiful, but wild. It made him think of the woods back home by the farm. He'd spent a lot of his childhood there, jumping from tree top to tree top. Superman watched as she clung to his chest and couldn't help by smile. Flying _clearly_ wasn't her thing. She didn't try to look around, and she didn't try to look away from his neck. She was tense, and he could hear her heart hammering in her chest. _Well she is a forest Nymph. She's used to being firmly on the ground, not soaring through the air. _"We're here now."

"Good." As soon as he touched down she lifted her head from his neck and beamed a smile. "I feel better already. Thanks for the lift Superman but I'll walk from here."

"Of course." He quickly put her down, realising he'd not yet put her down, and dusted himself off. "Well you're the last recruit so training will start tomorrow. Go inside and they'll sort you out with accommodation and the rules and such. I'll see you tomorrow Gaia."

"And you Superman." He watched her elegant form saunter into the building and heard the wolf whistles that followed her. he almost went in after her, but decided against it. they were all good people in there. She'd be fine.

"What the hell?" Miss Swift walked into the canteen to get some food before chilling out for the rest of the day, when she saw a ruckus in the middle of the large hall. At least 15 guys were all surrounding a woman, and as she very quickly got closer, she didn't like what she saw or heard.

"Please let me through. I just wanted some water before I rest for the night. Please let me just-"

"You look like Poison Ivy. Perhaps we should frisk you to make sure you're not carrying anything dangerous on you."

"And where would I _put_ something dangerous in this outfit? Please just let me go." Miss Swift rolled up the sleeves of her black and red flash suit and stormed over to the rabble. "I just want water."

"I'll give you a good watering sweet thing." As Miss Swift looked over the shoulders of the gaga men, and she saw red. That poor woman was being hounded by all these men because she was beautiful. She wasn't trying to be seductive or lead them on. She had her hands open submissively and she was pleading for her freedom. As she moved too close to one guy, they'd grab her shoulders so she'd have to pull away and end up back in the middle of them again. They were getting quite grabby... Then the green skinned woman squealed as a hand smacked her ass.

"ALRIGHT MOTHER FUCKERS! BACK THE FUCK AWAY BEFORE I SMACK YOUR FACES OFF WITH MY FOOT!" The ebony bombshell zipped between a pair of legs and slid alongside the new girl. She jumped to her feet and smacked her chest with rage. "Just because you got accepted into the justice league, doesn't give you the fucking licence to maul pretty girls. I am _seriously_ going to beat your punk asses if you come ONE STEP closer?! BACK OFF!" to prove her point she whizzed like a blur around the forest nymph, making her grab herself in fear as wind licked at her, and a red covered boot collided with the nearest 5 unsuspecting the speedster jerked to a stop and glared at the rest of them. "You still here? FUCK OFF!"

"You are going to regret messing with me bitch!" one of them stepped forward and cracked his neck and muscles. He was covered in head to toe with what looked like metallic armour and a hammer emblem on his chest. He banged his fists together and stormed towards her... ...until he froze in fear.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Gaia screamed and grabbed a hold of Miss Swift for dear life. Behind her was a...monster? It had the biggest demonic wings she had ever seen, with chaotic red eyes and sharp claws and fangs, each itching to sink into flesh. The beast snarled loudly, wings spread, arms thrown wide, fangs bared and hissing.

"Agramon I got this shit, alright?" Gaia snapped her head to her would be rescuer who seemed to be quite at ease with this...woman?

"I'm not doing anything. Just making sure no one does anything stupid." She snapped her teeth closed to one side, appearing to bite at the air with rage.

"Nope. These jokers aren't fucking _brave_ enough to be _stupid_ enough to try it on with me, stupid mother fuckers." Miss Swift jerked her body at the metallic thug, who backed off immediately. "See? All players and jokers, no real men among the lot. Fools. You." Gaia jerked, having been suddenly addressed and a hand grabbed her shoulder, pulling her to her full height. "We are the only serious bitches in this place. I'm Miss Swift, faster than life, and that woman that just came to your rescue there is Agramon. She's also sound as hell, so thank her and be friends. You are going to _need_ friends here girl." The dark skinned beauty shoved her towards the demon. She shoved her hands down her top and front nervously, dusting herself off and mentally preparing herself.

"S-sorry for screaming. I was scared but if you're a friend then I'll bottle that away. I'm Gaia the forest Nymph." Cautiously she raised her hand and told herself not to move as she saw the taloned hand of her saviour coming towards her.

"That's alright. I thought you and my friend were in danger. I look scary all the time but I didn't realise I had any scary _in me_." The demonic woman seemed to transform in front of her. her shoulders sank, her wings clung to her body and she held herself. Those red eyes seemed to shimmer with anxiety, and she finally lowered a tentative hand into hers. "I didn't mean to scare you...Gaia?"

"Yes that's right sweetheart." She didn't seem to fear the woman anymore, not when she was clearly so gentle really. She just didn't _look_ gentle. "And as I've just been informed it would be best to have friends here. So I'd like to be your friend. And also...?"

"Miss Swift." She grabbed the woman around the shoulders and hugged her to her muscular frame. "We have a nice little gang now, don't we?"

"Let's go introduce her to the others. No doubt Luna will give her green jelly."

"Of course. Now Gaia." Both women walked the bemused Nymph out of the hall and towards the common quarters (via a table with a jug of water, which was quickly swiped by the thirsty Nymph). "Let me _warn_ you about Luna. She'll be a great friend...but you need to know a few things about her insane need to be a mother figure to everyone and her...own brand of crazy."

"...I'm listening?"

As they got to the common quarters they all converged on Luna's room, where said crazy witch and the red headed psychic were sat on the floor playing go fish.

"...it's so weird. You seem to know exactly what I have in my hand...wait...Mystic X! Reading my mind is cheating!?"

"I'm sorry Luna. You _do_ think _very _loudly." Gaia regarded the scene before her. A woman dressed in a sparkly black witch's outfit was sat cross legged on the floor with a woman with a blue skin suit with a large red X on it. Agramon manoeuvred her large winged form to join them on the floor.

"Hay, this is Gaia. She's...what's your power again?"

"Oh...nature really." She tucked her thick green hair behind her ears and smiled sweetly. "But I class myself as a healer."

"I class myself as an ass-kicking bass ass. Who's your mentor?"

"Superman."

"SNAP!" Gaia found herself flat against the wall. The women dressed as a witch had pinned her there with a hug and seemed to be wiggling her backside like she had a tail... "We have the same mentor so we'll get to train together. I'll bring the fists and you can heal them after I'm done beating them with fish, how's that?" Gaia blinked her emerald orbs into the bright blue ones of the woman before her.

"Are you Luna by any chance?"

"Yup! How did you know? Did Superman tell you about me?"

"No woman, I did. Bitch needs to know what kind of pack she's joining." Miss Swift lowered onto the bed and put her hands behind her head, very casual in her approach. "I run really fast. I'm Flash's Whipping bitch. Agramon there is Batman's new play thing. Mystic X is a mind reader and she's that Martian's apprentice, and you know Luna is both _insane_ and magical. As I warned you. Welcome to the group."

"Oh by the stars!" Luna finally released Gaia to start jumping around the room like she was attached to springs. "We _are _a group. We need a name!"

"What?" Miss Swift pushed up on her elbows to give the little poptart a wakeup call. "We _already_ have name fool. We are the Justice League Recruits."

"I know I know that. I mean _we_ need a name. We should _so_ be a unit of our own!" Luna started clapping her hands together and making suggestions. "How about the busty babes? We all have great racks so-"

"Hell no." Miss Swift sat up and pointed threateningly at the witch with her best mean face. "No names."

"What about the Magnificent Madams?"

"Bitch, are you even hearing me? I said no!"

"Sexy saviours? Oo oo, I have it. Dynamite Divas!"

"I am serious woman, you better contain that shit before I do it for you." Gaia blinked in extreme awe and confusion as the bizarrely matched women interacted. Luna bounced up and down on the spot so much her black pigtails bounced with her, and Miss Swift took a powerful stance and pointed at her like a mother telling off a naughty child. Yet, you could see a clear affection in their eyes, and you could also tell that the magical woman was going to get her own way..."Fine! Justice Sisters is alright. Everyone else fine with that?" Miss swift panted with desperation, looking around the room at everyone else. Luna also fixed her eyes with everyone, clapping her own hands with anticipation and approval. Their gaze first fell on the red head, who seemed to be content observing the exchange with amusement.

"That's fine."

"Agramon?"

"That's alright with me, but I have to clear it with Batman first."

"And you Gaia?" Luna jumped over to her and grabbed her hands, holding them to her chest and beaming a smile at her. Who could say no to that?

"...ok...?"

"YES! It's settled then." Luna turned to face the room and gave them a thumbs up. "We are the Justice Sisters!"

"Can we be Justice Sisters, that are quite and don't freak out new friends?"

"What do you mean Miss Swift?" Luna blinked her big blue eyes from the speedster, who had collapsed with exasperation on the bed, to the green goddess of a woman huddled against the wall still from her earlier onslaught. "You're alright with being one of the girls, right?"

"Sure...I think I'll be just fine."

"Great!" Luna skipped back to her previous position on the floor and blew into her hands. "Now that's settled we should celebrate. It is definitely time for..." she giggled, and Gaia noticed that everyone else seemed to shake their head at the woman. "...green jelly!"


	4. Chapter 4

Today was the day. Vivian Harper released a deep sigh as she stepped out of her shower and into her apartment. The walls were cream, the carpets, the curtains, the bed, the kitchen counter, all cream. It was a one person basic apartment, but to a 17 year old girl who had slept every night for the last 8 years in a dingy corner store back doorstep, it was _heaven_. A roof that didn't leak on you, a soft bed, clean towels and a tiny kitchenette to make fresh, healthy food. She allowed a gentile smile grace her thin rosy lips, causing her freckles to move on her cheeks. Her chocolate orbs brightened as she dabbed her long ginger hair with a fluffy cream towel. Another one was wrapped tightly around her middle, and she revelled in the feeling of the warm carpet between her damp toes. Her nails were cut and clean, her skin a fresh peachy colour and her brown eyes crystal clear. That's what a month of good food, sleep and feeling safe did for you. And friends. Vivian dropped her towels on the floor and with her foot, kicked them up onto her washing up basket.

Having friends, people you could sit and eat with without the fear of being stabbed for that day old bagel you found, or being beaten up for any change you had.

Over the last few weeks Luna, Miss Swift and Agramon, and Gaia, who she knew due to her telepathic abilities to be Lucy Vagger, Lila Jones, Eve Willows...and Gaia...

Vivian, AKA Mystic X, slipped into her bra and panties and looked at her uniform on the bed. As she slid into her blue skin suit with a red X on the front, she smiled and felt a warm feeling bubble in her chest. The feeling of belonging to someone was the greatest feeling in the world. She belonged here, in the hall of justice. She belonged to her new friends, and she belonged to her strange extraterrestrial mentor. Vivian stepped into her boots, and pulled her gloves on. Next she picked up her hair dryer and dried her ginger hair, leaving it to shimmer down her back. Good hair products did that for your hair. Once she felt that she was ready, she looked at herself in the mirror. After finally eating a balanced diet and getting gentle exercise, she had finally filled out her feminine form. her breasts were not as large as the other JL members seemed to be endowed with. More of a plump C cup. She was also very slender, with gentle curves to her waist, hips and bubble butt. She ran her hands down her body, only the thin material of her costume between her gloved fingers and her skin. She blushed at herself, and for the first time in her life, she felt cute. She wasn't gorgeous, not like Luna who had a wild ethereal beauty about her. Or a sexy goddess like Miss Swift and Gaia. Even Agramon had a bigger rack than her. She put her hands on her hips and dared to pose in the full length mirror.

"I could pass as cute. Maybe." She then rolled her eyes at herself and held her elbows, looking at the meek woman in the mirror. "To a desperate person." But she couldn't stand there and evaluate herself like this.

Today was the day.

Today they would get into their teams and start their training with their mentors. On that note, she fastened her red boots up and scuttled out of the door. Her fist hammered on the first door and out popped a very groggy speedster in a baggy white t-shirt. She rubbed her amber eyes at the red head, clearly not a happy camper.

"Wha...? damn girl it's 6am."

"We have training today. We need to get a full breakfast and probably allow for Luna to give us a sisterly pep talk before training."

"Right...damn that girl. One minute." In a blur of motion Vivian tried to watch her friend get ready. All she saw however was a suspiciously skin looking blur move around the room at supper speed, then vanish into the bathroom, a brief sound of water running, then the blur reappeared as a black and red blur. The woman jerked to a stop right in front of her with fresh pout on her face. "That was like what? 30 seconds?"

"That was fast."

"Nah, I'm dog tired. Took me twice as long as usual." Miss Swift yawned into her red gloves and made sure her black eye mask was in place. "Who's next?"

"Well, Agramon is next in order of proximity."

"Right, let's go drag her butt out of bed." Miss Swift stretched lazily as the two women walked three doors down the hall. "She in there?" Mystic X pressed her hands to the door and closed her eyes. she nodded and backed away from the door. "Yo Bat-bitch. Your morning get the fuck up call is here to-" the door opened slowly to reveal nothing but darkness. The curtains were still closed and there were no lights on...and the door creaked as it opened... "...Agramon...?" Red eyes appeared in the shadows, glowing like burning embers suspended in the darkness. Mystic X and Miss swift held each other and squealed.

"Oh, morning." A few more steps and Agramon stood there towel drying her thick black hair. "Everything...ok? you look like you've-"

"Had the _shit_ scared out of us?!" Miss Swift pushed herself away from the redhead and stomped her foot angrily. "Hella yeah woman! Why is your door all creaky and open? And what's with the pitch darkness? And since _when_ did your eyes glow in the fucking _dark?!_"

"Oh...yeah I can see in the dark. I like the dark...so I didn't think to turn the light on." Agramon folded the towel and put it on her untouched bed. "It's still early isn't it? I got up early, I think."

"Yes it's early." Mystic X stepped into the room and smiled up at the demonic woman. "Is that a new outfit?"

"Oh, yeah. Batman had it made for me." She became very self conscious then and flicked a switch. With light finally filling the room Miss Swift felt comfortable enough to enter and look her winged friend up and down.

"Damn woman those are some nice threads."

"You think so?" Agramon tucked her damp hair behind her ears and looked down at herself. Her feet were bare, as they were meant to be, and she wore a leather skin suit. It started mid thigh, had no sleeves and tied around her neck. Her back was bear to give her wings full movement, and she had an empty silver utility belt around the shorts part of her outfit. Her clawed fingers traced the famous bat buckle on her belt and ghosted a smile.

"Yeah, but I can't stop looking at your rack. Damn that's some nice cleavage." Miss Swift teased, walking straight up to the blushing demon and cupped her breasts together with each hand. The neck of her outfit had a deep V in it and her breasts were packed tight into the black leather. "Can't you tell a _man_ designed our costumes?"

"Miss Swift! Get off my boobs!" Agramon stumbled backwards comically, her left eye twitching and she comically held her own breasts.

"What? Those are some nice puppies." The speedster was chuckling through her words and she couldn't stop herself. "But seriously, who designs our outfits? If we haven't got our tits and legs on display, we're packed into skin suits so close to our skin, there is no _need_ for the imagination. Like our suits." She gestured between her and the blushing redhead. "Called Skin suits for a reason, right?"

"Shall we just go get the others?" Mystic X chuckled nervously and grabbed one of Agramon's hands from her chest, which in turn snapped her out of it and the other hand dropped to her side. "We still need to get Gaia and Luna."

"Alright kitten, I'll go get Luna, you get Gaia."

"Right, shall we?" Mystic X turned her brown eyes onto the red ones of her slightly traumatised friend and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Mmm."

"Oh...we're going to eat green jelly...again?"

"Yes Gaia, because green jelly is the food of champions!" Luna giggled, smoothing her hands over her new dress. Her bright eyes waited until her new band of sisters dug into their green jelly, clearly opting for the road of least hassle, before looking to her dress.

Everyone had a new outfit. Even Gaia confessed that she'd made a new one for joining the JL with. True, she also confessed she usually walked around the forest naked so any clothes were a new outfit to her, but that wasn't the point!

She still had her long raven hair tied to either side of her head in large pigtails, coming to her elbow in length. Her fringe curved over her forehead, and her eye shadow and lips were crimson. She decided that since everyone else wore either leather or lycra, she'd don the leather look too. She also copied the halter neck look from Gaia and Agramon with a red dog collar on. Her silver broom buckle hung from her dog collar. Her halter neck dress was black, leather, tight to her front, backless and when it got to her hips it flared out to just above her knees. She wore a thick lacy red underskirt to keep her modesty and volume to her dress. Her tights were also red and designed to look like cobwebs, with the odd black spider here and there in the pattern.

Her witchy boots were ankle height, with the traditional large silver buckles and pointy toes, with the less than traditional high heels. And finally her hands were covered in gloves to match her tights, fingerless, and elbow length. She charmed her nails to be modestly long and crimson at all times. This would be her new look. Sexy but fun, like the rest of her.

"You look great Luna." The witch blinked and turned to look at her psychic friend. "Sorry, you were thinking loud again."

"No problem. I appreciate the compliment!" She then giggled madly, before digging into her green jelly.

"Excuse me. Who is Agramon?" The whole table froze in their motion, only their heads turning to look at the new comer. Stood before them was a woman in a black all in one battle suit. Practical army grade black boots, black combat trousers tucked into her boots, utility belt with a plan S buckle, skin tight, long sleeved black shirt, tucked into her trousers and cuffed black ankle length gloves. Her face was creamy pale, her lips rosy and her eyes brilliant green. Her hair was the only colourful part of her, other than her eyes, a golden bob framing her face. It was longer at the front than at the back and she had a curved fringe resting on her forehead.

"I am." The woman flinched as her eyes cam to focus on the person the voice belonged to, and everyone saw her gulp.

"I've been told to find you. I'm...Shade...I'm _also_ one of Batman's recruits so-"

"YOU'RE THE FIRST GIRL THEY RECRUITED!"

"Luna, sit down." Gaia rolled her eyes, becoming acclimatised to the woman's own brand of crazy. "You'll scare the poor lass away."

"But I'm right, right?" Luna pointed at the woman's face, clearly putting her on edge. "The girl that disappears? Right? Am I right?!"

"I can manipulate shadows. I can vanish into them, yes." Luna then dropped back to her seat with a big grin.

"I knew it. I've been looking for you but you've always run off!" the rest of the table looked to their magical friend, half wondering if they might have been better off if _they_ had vanished into a shadow when she first appeared in front of them...then decided they weren't.

"...well...I need to eat my breakfast, so I thought I'd follow orders and-"

"You should definitely join us! For breakfast and for friendship!" Luna then got up, clicked her fingers, and moved her and Mystic X's chair up one. This freed up space between the ruffled redhead and the demoness herself. "There you go. You can sit with your team mate now. Ooo! And have some green jelly!"

"...erm...thanks..." The blonde haired shadow master slowly, cautiously, and very nervously made her way over to her new teammate. "...so..." She lowered into her seat and cleared her throat, turning to Agramon. "I was actually expecting a man. Agramon sounds very..."

"Bad ass." Miss Swift pushed her empty bowl away from her, folded her arms and narrowed her amber eyes on this new comer. No one was going to upset one of _her_ bitches, hella no! "You were going to say, _bad ass_, right?"

"Oh, right." Shade cleared her throat, a little startled by the interjection. "Yes. I knew there were some women recruited to the JLR's but I was unaware that Batman had more than just me on his team. Female wise, I mean."

"Well I'm female." Agramon held her elbows, her wings clinging to her shoulders and her red orbs trying to size up her new teammate. "So Batman told you to find me huh? He erm...never mentioned you to me..."

"He told me in passing yesterday."

"Oh, right." Awkward silence.

"So Shadow manipulation huh?" Luna leaned on the table with her elbows, practically on Mystic X's lap, and beamed up at the blonde bombshell. "As is Shadow _magic_ or...?"

"I'm not sure about magic. I can just shift into shadows, use shadows to manipulate people and objects, and I can turn into a shadow warrior."

"That's pretty cool." Agramon pursed her lips together as soon as she'd said it. She _never_ joined in conversations like that! She was about to apologise for commenting on someone else's powers when the woman turned and gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, it is really. You know if you attack from the shadows and stuff, I can generate shadows too to help you."

"...you'd do that for me...?"

"Sure. We are going to be team mates. Working together to amplify each other's strengths will only lead to victory and an increased efficiency in the field." Shade took a bite out of her sausage and egg butty and bliked boredly up at her. "...what?"

"You sound like Batman."

"...that's the idea...?" her brow was raised, and everyone could tell that 'Shade' wasn't going to be a ray of 'sunshine'. Miss Swift started to like her already. "Right." She finished the butty and wiped her face, smoothing her fingers over her black V shaped eye mask. "We better go then." She rose to her feet and extended a hand to her stunned comrade. "I won't bite you if you promise not to bite me. Deal?" Agramon blinked at the blonde a few times, before looking to the rest of the group for approval. Was this ok? Was she allowed this many friends? This was alright? She'd been alone for so long she wasn't sure if there were any sort of rules about these sorts of things. Mystic X by her side started to sway in her seat from all the questions swimming in the deamon's head, and had to grab onto her to steady herself.

"It's fine. She's a good person on the inside she's got no friends. You can be friends with her. Everyone wants her to join the group anyway. Go for it." She whispered to her friend, reassuring her tenfold. Agramon nodded her thanks to the read head, and returned to looking at the slightly weird-ed-out Shadow master.

"...deal. I'll have your back and you can have mine."

"In battle and training." Shade reiterated, making a point of looking from the demon to her outstretched hand, and back. "The rest we'll see about."

"Ok." Agramon took a deep breath, took the offered hand and jumped to her feet. "I'll try not to let you down."

"Good. It's a start." Shade pulled Agramon away from the table, to which she looked over her shoulder at longingly one last time, before she was led into Training hall 03. 'Batman recruits' was flashing from the sign over the door and already the rest of the team and Batman were inside. "Shit, we're the last ones here."

"Sorry. If you hadn't had to get me you'd be in there already." Shade released her hand, folded her arms and cocked her head at her.

"You're not a very..._scary_ demon person are you? Maybe a little...too nice?"

"Sorry." Agramon held herself, as usual, and followed her teammate into the hall. Batman was already barking orders at the men of his order, when Red eyes locked with a certain kind of person. He was tall, covered in metallic armour, with a hammer on his chest... It was the man who was harassing Miss Swift and Gaia only the day before. As he locked his dark eyes with hers, he openly scowled at her.

"Oh great, _you_. They must be letting _anyone_ join the Justice League these days. Even monsters. What's wrong? Didn't Circe' have an opening for you amongst her Beastimorphs?" He smirked, the other four battle suit clad 'heroes' cackling with him. Batman turned to face him and raised his hand, about to severely lay into him and teach him the importance of coercion in teamwork, when stunned by an echoing belly deep snarl. Everyone turned to look at her, no one more surprised than Batman. It was short lived however, and the demoness retreated back into her shell and frowned off to one side, once again holding her elbows with her wings and shoulders hanging forward.

Again, Batman opened his mouth to give them stern words, when Shade walked past him with purpose and up to the metal covered meta human.

"Listen you, we are a team. We are supposed to work together. We need to have each other's backs. Now, I've already made a deal with Agramon that we are going to work hard and have each other's backs. Now you need to decide to grow a pair, grow up, and get on with this. Or you can continue to be an immature little ass-wipe and I'll stand by my prior arrangement with Agramon and have her back. Piss her off like that again, and I'll open up the shadowlands through your shadow and strand you there. You ever _been_ to the shadowlands my friend? It's a pretty nasty place. Trust me, _friend_." Her green eyes were sharp on her target, despite being more than a foot smaller than the goliath of a man.

"Like I'm really going to listen to a small fry like you yapping at my ankles. Go home and leave the real work to the big guns." At this point Batman decided to remain silent. He was learning valuable intel about his recruits by watching them interact like this, seemingly having forgotten he was still present.

"Oh, you think because you have a nice shiny suit and some beef on your bones that makes you a big gun huh? You seem to be pretty confident in yourself. Care to test that? In a little _friendly_ sparing match?"

"You are _so _on princess."

"OOOooooo you are going to regret calling me that." Shade smirked and turned to the Boss. "That ok Batman?"

"By all means. I'll evaluate what you already know and what areas you need to practise and explore to improve yourselves. By the end of this I hope you will have learned to pick your battles wisely, and the value of team work and respect. And of course, _self respect_." He turned to look at Agramon, who frowned and looked to her feet. "Particularly when you friends take up your battles for you?" Her eyes widened and she looked to Shade. Had she really jumped down that guy's throat because of her?

"Shade you don't have to-"

"Go easy on him? That's alright, I'm not going to." She fluffed her short blonde hair, smoothed her fingers around her eye mask and crouched into a fighting position. "You! What's your name?"

"It's Warhammer. You?"

"Shade."

"When I count to 3 you will begin." Batman indicated with his hands that everyone else had to stand back. When he was content that they were a safe distance he began the countdown. "1...2...3!" Before Warhammer could even raise his fists or release a war cry, he fell through the floor. He just...vanished... "Shade! Where did you send him?"

"Hmmm?" She had relaxed into a casual stance, leaning more on one foot than the other, one hand on her hip and the other hand up for examination from her bored green eyes. "Oh war-dummer? He's exactly where I told him he'd go." Batman pinched his nose through his cowl and stormed over to her with purpose.

"Pull him back from the Shadowlands this instant! He could be attacked by any number of shadow creatures or infected with dark magic!?"

"I sent him in a shadow bubble. Nothing can touch him." Shade smirked to one side, sending a confident grin at the other now shocked members of her team. They would think twice before pissing her or Agramon off again. "I'll pull him back." Shade clicked her fingers.

"...aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAh!" Through the ceiling fell Warhammer. He hit the floor with enough speed to daze him so he wobbled when he managed to scramble to his feet.

"K-keep that bitch away from me!" He screamed, running to his friends to protect him. "Those, those _things_ were trying to kill me!"

"Oh relax _princess._ You were perfectly safe." Shade chuckled. "Are muscles still everything? Ay? Big gun?"

"Alright that's enough." Batman could feel his migraine coming. He thought they would have a bit of a cat fight, not get serious from the get go. He was definitely going to have to keep a close eye on this bunch of misfits. "Shade, hand to hand combat only for now. And abilities for physical combat _in this plain_, thank you. Now, let's start with the basics. Fitness." As soon as the word rolled off the dark knight's tongue the room filled with groans. That usually meant one thing... "Start lapping the hall and don't stop until I say so. Now!"

Batman stood in the centre of the room and watched them. They were clearly a rowdy, rough around the edges kind of group. Some of them had some serious issues to overcome before he would allow them to spar together again. He found himself watching Agramon as she kept wobbling around the hall. She was trying to run as fast as everyone else, but her wings kept catching the air and lifting her off her feet. The command had been run, not fly, so she kept wobbling to keep herself on the floor. It was draining her strength and stamina to keep dropping down like that, anyone could see that. she was falling behind everyone, with Shade running circles around everyone else.

Shade wasn't as new to the game as everyone else. She'd been trying to make a name for herself as a hero in Central city for the last 2 years, but had a lot of training to do. She did have a lot of potential though...

_It was nice that she felt the need to stand up for Agramon. _Batman found himself reassured that the demoness had managed to make a friend. He'd been watching her on the monitors from the watch tower, as he checked on all his recruits. He saw that she'd been 'adopted' into the female group headed by Luna, the _hyperactive_ witch, and was also glad of that. there were some very confident women in that group. He analysed Miss Swift to be a tough love figure, but just as motherly inside as Luna.

Luna was definitely the boss though. Batman had observed her manipulate different members of the group with great ease. Gaia was more on the outside, but she was the newest member of the group. She seemed quite content with the other women however, and also appeared to be warming up to the group with time.

"Agramon you are falling behind! Speed up!"

"Yes sir!"Batman rolled his eyes as she caught herself in the air again, and fell over on her return to the floor. He was about to yell at her again, when she clawed at the floor, got to her feet, and pushed forward. At least she was determined. He could work with determined.

That Mystic X was quite good for her. She seemed to be the emotional heart of the group. She was quickly becoming the quite unsung glue that held them all together. She could settle arguments and relax any heated situation. Probably with the aid of her psychic abilities. And now she had been adopted by yet another friend in Shade. She wasn't someone he would have naturally seen gravitate so someone with so little self esteem and self worth, being far too ambitious with her time.

This friendship however, formed for whatever reason, would be beneficial to the winged warrior. Her other friends wouldn't be there for her in her training or on the battle field, whereas Shade _would_. And she is a powerful ally to have. She also used fear tactics and stealth against her enemies, something Agramon _desperately_ needed to utilise. _Maybe she'll rub off on her. One can hope._

"Agramon! You are falling behind, again! Speed up! What use will you be if you are lagging behind your team?!" He barked at her, hoping to ignite the fire in her belly. "Move it now!" She moaned, fighting through the pain and pushed forward. Her body ached, particularly her back. She was designed for flight, not running. Running caused her wings to swing from side to side, and her wings were heavy. And they kept catching the air she generated with their expansive size, pulling her off the ground. "Agramon move! You're about to be lapped your that far behind."

Shade had pulled up behind her and had been jogging for the last 5 minutes, so she didn't over take her. Again, very nice of her. "You are holding your team up!" He barked again, waiting for the pain on her face to turn into determination. But it didn't happen.

"Come on Agramon. We're all tired. He'll stop us soon. We just need to go a little longer." Shade jogged by her side, looking at her with stern green orbs. "Batman is getting pissed. Come on! move your butt!"

"N-not a r-runner." She panted her body starting to flail. They had been running for an hour now and all their bodies hurt. None more so than Agramon's.

"Then don't run." Shade turned to look at her shadow, so close to Agramon's flailing one. Her eyes bled from the pupils until her eyes were black, and her shadow nodded at her. It jumped forward and pulled at the shadow wings of Agramon."AAAAAAAAAAA!" Agramon screamed as her wings opened to their full wingspan and beat down heavily. Her body lifted 8 feet off the ground in an instant. Both Shade and her shadow fell backwards on the floor and watched as Agramon tore forward through the air. Her body ached so much, but her wings sang with relief to be open and carried by the air. She beat her wings and sped up, flying faster and faster.

"Agramon that is not running!" Batman felt his cape moving and looked around him. Agramon was lapping around the hall in seconds, soaring with a look of contentment on her face. "Agramon!" she was going faster and faster and started to kick up a wind in the training hall... "Agramon stop right now! stop!" she was whipping up a whirlwind effect all around them, and to started to get harder and harder to keep their feet on the ground.

"What...?" She looked around her, realised what she was doing and looked to the ground to land. Only for her to continue to blaze around the room. "I can't stop! My body isn't doing as it's told! Help! I can't stop!""Hold on Agramon!" Batman turned to Shade.

"Bring her down now!"

"Yes sir."Shade started spinning on the spot, desperately trying to locate Agramon's shadow as it also zipped around the room. But she was going too fast! The wind started to whistle with the speed it was tearing around the room, and Agramon was getting more and more afraid for herself and her team mates. Batman decided enough was enough. He pulled out his Bat-net gun and followed her with the sight of the gun. He tracked her from his right, and as soon as she was in the centre (allowing for the wind conditions) he fired.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" her entire body snapped into a tightly packaged ball and hurtled to the floor. She crashed into a wall first, half way up the wall in fact, then fell backwards to the floor. She hit the wall and floor with such a force, she was unconscious when Batman got to her."Agramon? Agramon can you hear me?" Nothing. "Oh hell. Training over. Go rest up. We start again tomorrow." The other recruits moaned and sulked off to the showers. They were all panting and covered in sweat, including Shade. "You too Shade."

"Nah, I'll wait. It was my fault anyway. I made her fly."

"Yes that didn't escape my attention." Batman gave her his trademark pissy face, before turning back to the unconscious mess that was Agramon. "You will take responsibility for her injuries then? As you are responsible for this mess?"

"Yes boss." The dark knight growled with annoyance. This first training session hadn't gone according to plan _at all_. He cut her lose and slipped his arms under her.

"I'll take her to the medical wing, then you will do whatever the doctors says. You are also banned from training for as long as she needs care. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Shade groaned, not liking the sound of that. But in the end, she _was_ responsible for this mess. She might as well be prepared for the consequences of her actions. She'd also have to apologise to Agramon...

"And _never_ manipulate your teammate's powers or abilities without their say so. This is exactly the kind of thing that could happen. _Damn_ it Shade."

"Sorry sir."

"_I'm_ not the one you should be sorry for. Agramon was trying really hard and now she's going to think she failed." Batman spat through his teeth, carrying her towards the medical wing with the very sorry shadow master at his heel. "She's going to blame herself not _you_. When it was _your_ fault." He snarled. He was making sure that even if Agramon wasn't going to be mad with her, he _certainly_ was. He spent the rest of the journey to the medical wing berating Shade over and over again.


	5. Chapter 5

_Back at the table just after Shade and Agramon left..._

"I like her. I think she has spunk." Miss Swift nodded and looked after the two as they disappeared around the corner. "Well, gotta run."

"See you...later..." Luna hadn't even raised her hand to wave yet, and the speedster was gone. Just like that. "Well I don't suppose you know anything about when Supes is coming to get us huh?" Luna folded her arms over her chest and looked to Gaia, who paused fluffing her evergreen hair to shrug at her. "Typical." She clicked her tongue against her teeth and made the decision to sulk.

"Oh..." Vivian held her forehead through her red X eye mask and tensed up.

_Training is about to start. Make your way to training room 8. I am already here. Do not keep me waiting._

"Erm, you ok there Redhead?" Mystic X shook her head as it cleared and blinked her boggled brown eyes a few times as she got them back into focus.

"Yeah, that was the Martian Manhunter. I have to go to training now." She rose from her seat and dusted off her costume. "I'll see you later."

"See you later Mystic X." Gaia smiled brightly at her and waved her off. Luna had put her forehead on the table and fists next to her head in a paddy. "Oh cheer up Luna. I'm sure Superman will be here soon."

_One hour later._

"WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!"

"Luna calm down." The hyperactive Witch was stomping around the hall in her new outfit, steam literally coming out of her nose and ears and glasses were breaking as she went near them. Gaia was trying to calm her new friend, but it wasn't working.

"We have _Superman_ as our mentor. He's like the coolest one, right? Yet every other mentor has either collected their recruits, or told them where to go." Luna counted off herself and Gaia, and the other five male recruits sat in the hall, all looking at her with the same fear you'd have if you were locked in a room with the Joker. Particularly when chairs and spoons started to fly around the room.

"Luna I'm sure he'll be here soon!" Gaia squeaked and ducked as a tray flew through where her head _was_. "Calm down!"

"That's it! I am SO out of here!" Luna pulled the silver broom buckle off her red dog collar, flicked her wrist and turned it into a full sized silver broom. She mounted it with a huff, and turned to Gaia with a very manically pissed off expression. "_if_ he turns up, tell him for the good of everyone I went for a fly. Next time, he should be on time!" with that she kicked off the floor and sped through a window. Not an open window. An actual full glass window. Gaia watched as glass from the window fell to the floor and yelped as chairs and spoons suddenly fell to the floor.

"Oh dear. That woman is not someone I want to make an enemy of." She shook her head and dusted off her hanging two piece skirt. "Is everyone alright?"

"Er, I have some glass in my arm." She tracked the voice to a young man with a head of mousy brown hair, bright blue eyes and a suit much like Flash's. Red all over, but there were none of the traditional lightning signs associated with the speedster. He had a large black L on his chest and black lines all over his suit to make it look like circuitry.

"Come here honey. I'll heal you."

"Oh, thanks." He walked over to her and sat down in the chair she held for him. "I'm Laser."

"I'm Gaia. Hold still sugar." She bent over to see his shoulder and upper arm. There were small slithers of glass littering that area. "This is going to sting for a moment, but I have to get the glass out."

"Yes Mam." She smiled to him. she liked a boy with manners. Not many men she'd met since leaving the woods seemed to have manners. She pulled one of the pink cherry blossoms from her hair with a soft 'ouch'. The then placed it on his shoulder and blew on it. Small roots slithered out of the cherry blossom and seeped into the small wounds. "Ah-fuck-sorry. That does hurt."

"It's alright Laser. Try to hold still." The blossom pulled all the glass shards, even the tiniest slithers out of the cuts and deposited them into her hand. She then put them on table and as soon as the blossom was done, allowed it to crawl up her arm and return to its place in her hair. "Ok, I'll heal those cuts now."

"Thank you Mam."

"Please, it's Gaia. Right, please bear with me...this might seem a little...strange." She tore the costume open over his shoulder fully and leaned forward. Her lips parted and she dragged her tongue across the wounds. Laser blushed madly as she lapped at his cuts over and over again. It was strange...but also kind of erotic. Particularly as she closed her eyes and bent over as she did it...Laser's pants were getting a little tight...

"Gaia..? what are you doing?" She snapped her eyes open, snapped back up and looked to her side to find Superman stood there with a very frustrated look on his face.

"And what _happened_ in here?"

"Ah, you see-"

"That witch was a bit pissed off that you were so late, sir. Things seemed to... 'happen' when she's pissed off." Laser offered, looking over his shoulder. "And Gaia just 'licked' my wounds away. I think...?"

"My saliva has healing properties. Although I usually use a concentrated ointment form, I didn't have any on me." She smiled sweetly at the man of steel, trying to distract him from the chaos. "Hope you don't mind."

"Why were you injured in the _first place_?" Superman snapped at Laser, who jumped up and stood to attention."The witch smashed through the window and some got in my arm sir."

"She WHAT?!_"_

"Well, she saw that things were 'happening' around her." Gaia stepped up to Superman, demanding his attention with her soft Scottish accent and lullaby tones. "She decided it would be best to go and fly it off, so to speak. She made the decision to keep us all safe." She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side so her hair fell over one shoulder. She was pulling out all the stops for Luna, as a pissed off Superman _wouldn't_ be very good for her training.

"And this was an accident she didn't even know about anyway. It was nothing really, was it Laser?" She turned her powerful gaze to the man who she'd just healed, and he nodded obediently. "There. An accident."

"Well she needs to control that temper of hers. I may be your mentor, but I'm a member of the justice league first and I had an emergency to deal with. That will always come first."

"I'm sure she'll apologise when she comes back. she'd probably want us to start out training without her though." Gaia winked at him and successfully made the man of steal blush under her gaze. Temper averted.

"Right, well." He cleared his throat and beckoned for the rest of his recruits to gather round him. "Well my group seems to have all sorts of different abilities. I have a healer, a magic user, two strong men, a laser shooter, someone who can fly, and a shape shifter. I've thought long and hard about this and I think it would be best for you guys if I gave you all individual training sessions. Now that will demand a lot of my time to do this, so you have to appreciate that you are going to have to work around _my_ schedule. I will only ever cancel in an emergency situation. respect me, and I'll respect you. Work hard for me, and I'll work hard for you. Is that alright with everyone?"

"One on one time with the Big S? What more could a girl ask for?" Gaia giggled and ran a hand back through her hair. "Could I suggest that Luna has the last appointment? As she is...elsewhere at the moment. I'm more than happy to go first, by the way."

"No, I have made a list, thank you." He cleared his throat, determined to stick to his plan. He'd wracked this through his head all last night in his little apartment in town, trying to ignore how nervous he was about being the hero's of tomorrow's teacher. Seven of them no less. And then there was Gaia... "Laser you are first at 11am, then Mighty fist and Blade together as you are both strong men, at 12pm. Then Shifter you're at 1pm and Arial Pursuit you're at 2pm. Then Luna at 3pm and Gaia at 4pm." He recited from memory. "I have booked the relevant equipment needed for these training sessions for these times so there will be no mixing them up." He nodded and beamed a smile at them. "We'll build up from the basics to the big leagues. I'll try not to be too tough as long as you try your best, alright?"

"Yes sir!" they all chorused.

"Right, Laser, you're first. See the rest of you later."

"I can't wait Superman. I can't wait." She winked at him and sashayed off towards her room. At least now she could have a little more beauty sleep. -

_At the end of the day in the canteen._

"ouch." Mystic X lowered herself to the table with the rest of her friends gingerly, holding her side the entire time. "Hi guys."

"You look how I feel." Miss Swift cradled a cup of coffee with 3 sugars like it was the holy grail. "Flash had us run around Metropolis _all day_. He didn't let us stop and if we hit an object, a person or each other he kicked our asses. With a shoe..." Her tired amber eyes looked into the dark liquid as she took another gulp of it. "...wanted to shove that thing up his ass...i hurt everywhere."

"Yeah I get that." Vivian AKA Mystic X ran a hand back through her messy ginger hair and tucked it behind her ears. "As soon as I walked into that room we were running around an assault course all morning. Then this afternoon we spared. As soon as they figured out I could read minds I was their favourite target." She hissed, feeling the pain of her training in her bruised ribs and aching limbs. "It's alright to move objects with your mind, fly, set things on fire and animate objects, but apparently reading minds just isn't natural or fair."

"Damn that's not fair." Miss Swift put her empty mug down and looked at her exhausted friend. "You know Agramon's in the infirmary?"

"What?!" the red head pushed up from the table. "Is she ok?! What happened?" before Miss Swift could reply, she looked deep into her eyes and got all her answers. "Batman shot her with a net in the air!? Why would he do that?"

"She was out of control apparently. As soon as I heard I sped over to the medical wing. Shade turned me away, saying she was 'charged' with caring for her and I had to leave." The speedster huffed, folding her arms over her chest and pouting angrily. "I was just starting to like that girl be she just glared me down. There is something about that woman. A kind of darkness in her pretty little eyes. I can't decide if I like her or not."

"I..._could_ find out when we see her next. Oh thank you."

"No problem." Miss Swift poured her psychic friend a cup of coffee, before pouring herself cup as well.

"Where are the others?" the warmth of the coffee going down her throat was a pleasant distraction from her aching body.

"Gaia _was_ here. She just ran off for her training session with Superman. Luna is out _somewhere_ flying off her temper. Gaia told me that Superman was late and that pissed our little magical pop tart off so she went crazy. Shit started flying around the room and then she smashed through a fucking window!...let's never be _late_ for her..."

"...agreed." The women mentally licked their wounds and drank their coffee. Food wouldn't be served for another 40 minutes so caffeine was all they were getting.

Neither woman thought it would be so tough. They had literally had their assess handed to them today, and hardly shared 2 words with their mentors. The Martian Manhunter simply appeared to point out Vivian's short comings, and how to approve, then moved on to the next person. The Flash only appeared to smack one of his recruits across the ass with an old trainer. Both women were feeling physically and mentally drained. Particularly Vivian, who's only weapon _was_ her mind. She spent most of the day running and dodging the onslaught of objects, fists and fire.

"Hiya guys."

"Gaia?" the two women turned to look at the evergreen beauty with confusion. "Aren't you supposed to be in training?"

"Yes sweetheart, I _am_ supposed to be training." She sat next to Mystic X and put her hands on her hips with attitude. "And that super-dear collected me himself, only to stand me up! Someone called Bizarro is running lose in town or something." She huffed angrily. "No one stands me _up_. I'm a Nymph! _Wars_ have been carried out for the affections of Nymphs."

"At least you haven't been used as a battering ram like us two. I have the imprint of a size 13 trainer on my ass. Mystic X has been picked on by the other psychics for being a mind reader. When you're body aches like ours, _then_ moan."

"I _wish_ Superman made my body ache." Gaia sighed and poured herself a glass of water. She didn't seem to be phased by the shocked faces of her friends at her statement. "So have you seen Agramon yet? I tried swinging by the medical bay on my way here but-"

"Shade gave you marching orders, right?" Miss Swift growled, pouring herself a 3rd cup of Jo and adding 3 sugars with vigour. "She could be really hurt and we wouldn't know. Damn that girl."

"Anyone seen Luna? She really needs to get back here before Superman declares her a run away." Gaia held her hands together in hope. "I did my best to calm the big S down and word it as an accident and-"

"You also pulled out all the stops to distract him from his anger." Mystic X blushed, putting her hands up immediately in apology. "I'm sorry. I'm still on mental high alert from my training. I didn't mean to pry!"

"That's ok honey." She chuckled at her and put her hand on her shoulder, making her wince. "Are you ok?"

"Was a punching bag, remember?" Vivian smiled through her pain and took a deep breath. "It's alright."

"I can heal you, you know."

"You can?" the mind reader beamed a smile with bright brown eyes.

"That would be great. Is that ok?"

"Of course dear. Stand up for me. Is it everywhere?"

"Yes Mam." The Nymph took her hands and walked her away from the table."I've been sunbathing all day on the roof so I have a lot of energy stores saved up. I'll be done in two shakes of a bush!" She giggled, and Mystic X started to feel a bit nervous about this.

At that moment Superman and the Martian Manhunter walked into the canteen, the Kryptonian trying to work out exactly how he was going to apologise to Gaia for being late _again_. J'onn was just being polite and listening to his friend uncharacteristically babble at him. as the two aliens came into full view of the hall they stopped at the spectacle before them.

"Now don't worry sweetheart, I'll be gentle with you." Gaia elegantly dropped her shoulders and arched her back, her arms opening wide and her head raised to the ceiling. A soft hum started to emanate from the Nymph, and then her skin started to glow. The humming got louder and Vivian felt frozen on the spot. Gaia, full aglow, stroked her cheeks to reassure her. "Plants absorb the sun's energy to make food. I can do use that energy to do marvellous things. Almost in slow motion Gaia wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and embraced her. her body tingled all over and she fell into the Nymphs arms. In her mind Vivian saw the Sun, then an image of five women. One of them was Gaia, her arms outreached and a genteel smile on her face. Behind her were four women, the most beautiful women she had ever seen. They all had long flowing hair, large glowing eyes and elegant toga dresses on. the women all stood behind Gaia and reached with one hand towards her, and the other hand raised to the air. Before the vision ended Vivian looked upward to see the four Greek angels were reaching for the Sun, golden rays beaming down through them, and to Gaia. "Vivian?" the women's brown orbs snapped open and she found herself on the floor on her back. Gaia had returned to normal and was stroking her hair out of her face. "Are you ok? Most people faint so don't worry about that."

"Damn woman what did you do?!" Vivian blinked hard, seeing Miss Swift was also knelt over her. "You need to warn a sister before you start glowing and shit. If you've broken Mystic X I am_ not_ getting blamed for it!"

"I'm fine." She whispered. In actual fact it was the power of the vision that overpowered her, not the healing process. Those four women seemed to _look_ at her... _what was that?_ "Four women. Four Greek women and the sun. Who were those women?" Gaia was stunned by that and cupped her friend's face so she looked deep into her eyes.

"You _saw_ Apollo and his four daughters? That's...impossible. No don't get up yet you'll fall over again." Gaia looked up from her astounded musings at that moment when two sets of red boots came into view.

"What did you just do to my recruit?" J'onn reached down and lifted the waif of a girl into his arms with ease, despite her friend's protest. "Her mind is very clouded." He turned his glare from the green woman to his recruit.

"I'm...ok. I just need a minute to focus." She reached up to grab his shoulder and get down from his arms. Her hand however swatted the air in front of his face instead. "I just-"

"Enough." J'onn snapped, turned with her in his arms and marched towards her room. "You will rest and I will evaluate your fitness to train tomorrow. You should not allow someone to enter or interfere with your body or mind without knowing the consequences."

"Gaia is my friend." He pushed her door open. "She healed me. She didn't expect me to see...something." He lowered her to her bed and pulled her boots off. "I've never...it was so clear. So intense."

"What did you see?" J'onn pulled her gloves from her hands one at a time and sat next to her. he looked over her body to see she had no visible wounds. He poked her ribs and she didn't react. At least the Nymph _did_ heal her physical wounds. He then reached for her face and pulled off her mask. Vivian jerked and stared at him.

Taking off a hero's mask...he didn't even ask. Sure he _knew_ her identity from recruiting her, but did that give him the right to unmask her at will? She was sure it was a super hero rule that you never did that, _or_ gave away someone's identity. J'onn had said he was in charge of her and her welfare now, but did that mean he _owned_ her? Why else would he feel he had the right to unmask her? What she seemed to forget was her mentor was also a telepath and had heard exactly what she'd been thinking. It made him recoil his hand to his lap and look away from her. He'd never thought of her as a possession. He simply thought there was no need for the mask as he _did_ know her secret identity. He hadn't meant to degrade her value like that. If he apologised, then he'd also have to admit to hearing her thoughts. If he didn't apologise, then she'd continue to believe he thought so little of her."I..." he snapped his head back to look at her face with that fixed poker expression of his.

"Yes?"

"I saw a vision. I've never had visions before. I've never _seen_ anything. I've just heard thoughts. But as Gaia healed me I saw a vast nothingness. I felt the cold of it. it was dark and cold." Vivian held herself and looked to the beige ceiling of her room. "But then Gaia was there, glowing and reaching for me. There were four women behind her."

"Four _other_ women?"

"Yes. They had one arm reaching for Gaia, and the other arm lifted up towards the sun. They were so...beautiful. They were terrifying though. Their eyes were glowing like their eyes were on fire." She gulped deeply. "I felt the heat of them looking at me...then I was warm all over. And the sun was enormous. It filled the darkness and I thought I was going to burn from it."

"That sounds like a very intense vision. Interesting, it appears you can do more than read minds." J'onn rose from the bed and folded his arms over his vast chest. "Perhaps more abilities will come to fruition during training."

"Oh yeah...training..." he raised a brow at that. he sensed her cautious excitement when she first entered the training hall that morning, and yet not she seemed to be dreading it. "Maybe I'll get lucky and I can go invisible, or get a force field or something. Then I might stand a chance."

"You are not content with your abilities? The ability to read minds is a powerful skill. It has been the ability of mine that as proven the most useful to date." Vivian pushed up on her elbows and looked at him frankly.

"Says the Martian with super strength, shape shifting and phase shifting abilities, laser eyes AND flight. Look at me." She looked deep into his dark orange eyes. Or where they red? She couldn't make her mind up. "I am tiny, I'm weak, and my natural instinct is to run. All I've ever done is hide and avoid a fight on the streets. I tried really hard today but I couldn't land a punch, I couldn't do anything but get beaten up." She sat up and held her knees to her chest. Her ginger hair fell forward and her brown eyes shimmered with her own worthlessness.

"I'm so sorry." She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder."Every single person in this place will never admit it, but they all started off feeling as you do now. Even I. Superman discovered his powers one at a time. The Flash was beaten up or thrown into buildings on a regular basis when he started out. We all started with very little skill. Only with time and practise did we become the legends we are today." His voice was powerful and booming as it filled the room, yet he didn't raise his voice. "You may not have super strength or the ability to move objects with your mind, but the ability to read minds is still great power to have. It may save the lives of you and your team one day. It may be hard to believe that right now, but you will have to put your faith in me as your mentor to help develop you into the future hero you will be. Do you have faith in me Vivian Harper?" She took a deep breath and put her hand over his on her shoulder.

_Do you have faith in me? All your other recruits are so big and strong. And then there's me, a street rat.__Vivian Harper you have great potential. Your compassion will help your mental powers grow. You simply need to try hard and have faith you will get better. _ He nodded to her and pulled away.

"Rest now and we shall start again tomorrow."

"Thank you J'onn." He paused by the door and turned to face her. he bowed his head and walked out, closing the door behind him.

The next day was a 'rest day' for the recruits, most of which stayed in bed and licked their wounds. It seems the fairytale idea of what it took to be a hero had been severely shook out of them. It was hard work that made a hero. A powerful mix of determination, practise and a high pain threshold. Particularly a high pain threshold with Batman... Agramon woke up the following day to find Shade passed out in her side chair and Batman stood over her.

"Before you start apologising Shade was responsible for this." He gestured to her body. "She has been sanctioned accordingly and will not manipulate your body without your permission again. You should be well enough to return to training in the next couple of days. I'll see you then." Before she could even open her mouth he turned on his heels and walked out the door, his cape rippling behind him as he went.

"erm...ok." Agramon poked Shade with the tip of her wing. Her body was sore, but nowhere near as bad as it had been. "Shade. Hay Shade."

"Didn't do it!" she jumped, looking around the room in her startled I've-just-woken-up way. "Erm..." she then blinked her emerald eyes at the demoness. "Ok. I _might_ have done that."

"Yes. Batman told me." She chuckled behind her hand when the woman laughed nervously.

"Ah, yes. Sorry about that." the blonde then jumped to her feet and dusted off her clothes. "So. You good now?"

"Yes. Thank you for checking on me." She smiled with bright red eyes. "I'll return to training in a few days."

"Right." Shade put her hands on her hips and avoided looking at her. "So I'll...see you then."

"Thank you." Agramon pulled herself out of the dinky little hospital bed and limped over to the door. "I'll be going back to my room now."

"Right." Agramon rested her wings on her shoulders and pushed her hands along the wall as she made her way back to her room. She looked over her shoulder every now and then and saw Shade was following her. Her room wasn't anywhere near hers. Why was she walking this way? As she reached her room and pushed open the door she turned to see Shade had stopped walking and was watching her. "Get inside then, geez." The blonde feigned bored frustration and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. A gentle smile graced the demon's grey lips then. She'd followed her to make sure she got back to her room safely."Thank you!"

"What the hell for?" Agramon still smiled. So Shade didn't want to admit what she was doing or that she was worried. It didn't matter, Agramon was touched anyway. She slipped into her room, closed the door and allowed herself to collapse on her own bed. She woke up when she felt a weight on her body. She snarled and reached her clawed hands up to attack the person sat on her body.

"Stop Agramon it's us!" The light went on, blinking her crimson orbs for a moment, before she recognised the two women in the room with her.

"...what...?"

"I sensed your return." Mystic X was sat by her head on the bed, holding her clawed hands in the air and nodding cutely at her. "And I asked Gaia to come to heal you."

"She can do that?" Agramon looked up to see the green Nymph was straddling her middle and had her hands on her hips.

"Of course deary. I did that little number of Mystic X yesterday. I found out what kind of shape you were in, sun bathed _all_ day and got ready to heal you."

"We were planning to knock Shade out and come in and heal you in the infirmary." Mystic X giggled at the look of confusion on her large friend's face. "But you're here now. Oh...yes that's right. Shade was guarding you so no one could get in. She seems quite protective."

"And Scary." Gaia shivered all over. "She glared me down and I felt so small. Now!" Gaia arched her body, smoothing her hands up her front until her hands nested in her thick green hair. The vines of her clothing started to tremble and her body buzzed into a glow. Agramon stared at her, not entirely sure she should allow what was about to happen, to happen.

"It's ok. She did this to me yesterday." Mystic X whispered in her ear, calming her greatly. Agramon watched as Gaia writhed on her stomach, her legs clenching against her ribs and making her scream in pain. "Bare with it Agramon!"

"H-hurts!" She hissed and thrashed against their hold, her wings flapping at her sides. The door banged open just as Gaia started to heel her. Batman had decided to walk this way on his patrol and heard screaming. He kicked the door open and for a moment, he couldn't decide if Agramon was in danger...or if this was a private party...

Agramon was on her back, arching against the bed and panting, her breasts pushing up and her fangs peering from under her lips. Gaia was mounted on top of her, swaying her body very...provocatively. Her hands were in her hair and she seemed to be...glowing with ecstasy. Mystic X was restraining Agramon's hands by her head, and watching the whole thing.

"...erm..." the cock piece of his Batsuit suddenly felt far too tight. Gaia released a 'gratifying' moan and her body pulsed. She returned to her normal hues and immediately started checking Agramon's vitals. "What just-"

"Oh, Batman." Mystic X released her friend and ran to the dark knight. "Gaia just healed her wounds. She can converse sunlight into healing energy." Batman was still staring at the scene before him. "Oh, we're not lesbians." At that he bristled and snapped his gaze to the psychic redhead."I didn't-"

"That's alright honey." Gaia jumped down from her friend's waist and sauntered over to them with her hands on her hips. "Every many likes a bit of girl on girl. Even Batman." She giggled when a soft blush rose to his cheeks.

"That was inappropriate. You shouldn't-"

"Oh wow." Eve Willows, AKA Agramon stood to her full height and spread her wigs out to their full height. "I feel great! I feel...strange." The demoness held her neck with one hand, the other pressing against her stomach. "I feel..."

"Horney." Gaia finished for her, making everyone but the demoness flinch.

"Wha?!" Mystic X boggled at her. "I didn't feel horny afterwards."

"No you didn't. Being a psychic you saw behind the scenes of the healing." The Nymph giggled and put a ver unwelcome hand on Batman's shoulder, looking to him cheekily. "I'm a Nymph you see. Regardless of the power or means, the result of a Nymph healing you is the...bitterness." Mystic X looked over her tall friend, who seemed to be struggling to keep her breathing level.

"Is she ok?"

"Sure red, she's fine." Gaia then turned to face the redhead and the man in black. "But we should lock her in here. Or she might jump the first guy she sees."

"Right." Batman pulled out his master key, noticing how his recruit had started to eye him with heavy red eyes. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. And other parts of his body wanted to follow suit..."Oh, right. Sorry Agramon." Vivian chuckled nervously and stepped out of the room with Gaia, who was staring at Batman's back. Her green hands looked like they were about to push the dark knight inside, when Vivian yanked tem down.

"Gaia!"

"What?" she giggled and stared hard at the girl, thinking hard.

_Well, he looks like he could use a little loving. I'm a Nymph honey. I can sense when it's been a while for someone._

Gaia winked at her, making Vivian sweat drop comically.

"Still. No."

"No what?" Batman locked the door and looked to the two women.

"nothing." Vivian chuckled nervously and glared at her green friend, who was still giggling and grinning. "We'll be going now. bye."

"What she said." Gaia allowed her freaking out friend to drag her away from the suspicious dark knight and into her room. "Why am I in _your_ room?"

"Because it was closest." She hissed, sitting on her bed with her head in her hands. "Geez Gaia! Why didn't you _tell_ me she'd get all...well..."

"Man hungry?

""Yes!" Vivian's cheeks matched her hair. "Exactly. That was embarrassing!"

"Honey." Gaia sat next to her friend and giggled into her hands. "I'm a Nymph. The word for a sex addict isn't Nymphomania by _coincidence_."

"...right...i'll remember that then..."

"Besides, I'm man hungry now too." Gaia pouted, ignoring how her friend shuffled away from her quickly. "It's a two way process I'm afraid. I'm used to it now though I suppose. Still..."

"No fraternising with the other recruits!" Mystic X barked at her, really uncomfortable with the way this conversation was going.

"I know I know." The evergreen beauty got to her feet and stretched sexily. "I'll just go to my room and sleep it off."


	6. Chapter 6

Batman sat by his computer in the batcave and cleared his throat for the hundredth time that night. The image of Agramon...like that... He shook his head and got to his feet. He stripped from his costume and jumped into the shower. As the water ran over his body, the same image of his recruit came into his mind.

Her hair wild, her breasts backed into that outfit he made her, her body strong and curvy as she stood with hips at a sexy angle to her shoulders. And her hands...those supple looking hands moved over her flat stomach, up her pumped breasts and elegant neck. But those eyes. He felt so naked when she looked at him. Those crimson orbs were looking him up and down slowly, sinfully. Her tongue slipping out to lick her lips and fangs, like she wanted to taste him.

Bruce Wayne shook his head and mentally scolded himself. He should _not_ think of his recruit like that. It wasn't her fault the Nymph had a...side effect for healing her. And besides, what was wrong with him? Horny or not, she wasn't his type. As he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, another around his shoulders, he talked himself down. All the women he'd ever slept with (for his image as Bruce Wayne only of course) were always models, actresses, sometimes reporters. They were always very opinionated, very feminine and beautiful. Then as Batman he'd had a...thing with Catwoman. She was sex in leather. He sat in front of his computer again, taking a much needed drink of coffee. He _did _have a thing for leather.

Why was that image of Agramon so difficult to put back in its box? She was nothing like his usual 'type' of woman. She was grey all over for a start. Her hair thick and black, wavy down her back like a wild mane. Her horns were demonic as they curved over her head, ivory white and with an elegant charm to them. She wasn't tall for a demoness, only as tall as he was. Her wings made her look bigger, he thought.

Oh yes, her wings.

Bruce leaned back in his chair, dapping the towel around his neck against his ebony hair. His eyes looked around the batcave. He locked his gaze on the side wall with all his different battle suits. His classic batman outfit started off the line, then his aqua suit, bomb suit, flame suit and all the way to his war suit. He then looked at all the Bat related weaponry and machinery around the cave. Then he internally looked at that damn sexy image of Agramon. Those wings were wide and daring behind her, opening and closing every so slightly.

They were bat wings.

Big sexy bat wings.

_Maybe that's it. Maybe my initial fear became my symbol, and now it's my obsession? _She was like in incarnation of his inner beast. She was dark, had bat features, and terrified everyone around her.

Her eyes penetrated him, her talons sharp and her fangs sharper. And she was attractive, he thought. S_he certainly has a __nice__ rack and thighs._ His inner Batman scolded outer Bruce, reminding him vehemently that _that_ was his recruit.

It was time to put _that_ particular batch of images, thoughts and uncontrollably dangerous potential outcomes, into a box and lock it away.

Agramon was his recruit. It would be inappropriate.

He did just that, locked it away, and continued working at his computer.

Training continued for the next few weeks. Flash continued to run his recruits ragged...literally... Wonder woman and Hawkgirl teamed up their recruits and did assault course training, running them into the ground. The green lantern got some of the other core recruits to help him give his JL recruits a battlefield simulation. They had to avoid the light constructs for as long as possible. Yeah...painful...

Batman was working on their fitness like a freak of nature. They rotated spring training, to relay, to weight lifting and then his own tech-filled, booby trapped danger course. This involved a military designed course, including mines, batarangs aimed at you, smoke grenades and an array of other goodies.

Batman fitness training = ouch.

J'onn had started in much the same manner and evolved to the combat training with a vengeance. He pointed out people's strengths and weaknesses, and then paired you up with someone who was _definitely_ going to kick your ass. For Vivian in particular, that was pretty much everyone. After the second week however, he pulled her aside and delicately suggested that she might benefit from one on one training for a while. At least until her psychic abilities could hold their own against the others. She had looked at him very sceptically, thinking 'so much for have faith and you'll get better'.

These one on one sessions consisted of J'onn kicking her ass instead. Oh goodie.

Superman seemed to be taking a similar approach with his recruits, instilling important values and value in fitness and stamina. Except...for two of his recruits. Luna would cheat and either teleport in a poof of smoke to the finish line, or turn her opponents into small fluffy animals...there were many heated words exchanged between the Kryptonian and the witch over this issue. She would always answer with 'I'm a witch, not a mighty man, che'.

Gaia however was another story. In their first real training session Superman had felt very unsure what to actually.._do_ with her. She just stood there, hands on her hips, posed ever so cutely with her thick green hair over one of her shoulders. That hanging skirt swaying low down her hips, her dark green lips curved into a sexy smirk and her hair wild and littered with soft pink cherry blossoms.

He couldn't really _hit_ her.

When he tried to get her to do the assault course, she giggled and _walked_ around it...slowly... Superman couldn't help but find her amusing in the way she elegantly skipped from one tyre to the next. And when she fell off the tall beam he caught her like a shot with a blush. Now he was pacing in front of her, wondering what the hell do to with her.

"So you haven't particularly shown...prowess on the assault course." The man of steel began, stopping his pacing to look at her with as straight a face as possible. "So we can make as much progress as possible, I thought we could discuss how you _usually_ train." He folded his arms over his front and looked at her. The way she always seemed to curve those lips at him always made him feel hot under the collar.

"Oh. What I _usually_ do?" She sashayed over to him and stopped once she entered his personal space. One elegant hand left her hip and landed on his folded arms. "I usually grow an array of plants for medicinal purposes. I also heal people using the power of the sun. That requires preparation."

"Oh, ok. What like? A ceremony? Specialised equipment?"

"Oh I suppose so." She looked herself up and down with cheeky emerald eyes. "My body is very specialised, after all." She giggled, seeing him close to his breaking point, and took her hand back. It wouldn't do to break her mentor so early. She chuckled and sauntered over to look at the halls of justice building. "If you carry me _gently_ to the roof, I'll show you."

"Yes Mam." He ignored the flutter of excitement as he lifted her into a bridal hold. She didn't resist him anymore, allowing herself to be manhandled and carted around. He lifted them up with a jerk, but eased out into a smooth assent. As he touched down on the roof, he lowered her to her feet as delicately as possible. She then skipped a few steps away from him, before twirling to face him. "This is what I have to do to prepare for healing." She winked at him, and then lowered to her back. At took a few moments of him staring at her shifting on her back, getting comfortable and moaning with pleasure.

"...are you...sunbathing?"

"Yes dear." She giggled, patting a place next to her. Clark looked at the minx of a woman, and signed, doing as he was told and lowered to his butt next to her. "Oh, lay back for me."

"...ok." he did so, shuffling so his cape didn't ruffle under his back uncomfortably. "Why am I sunbathing with you?"

"If you're lying next to me looking up then you're not looking at me."

"...ok... "

"Oh here, hold these for me would you dear?" Clark was about to turn to take 'it' from her, when he felt her put them on his chest. Against his better judgement he fisted at 'it' and lifted it into his upward eye line.

"Erm, Gaia...?"

"Yes Superman?" He felt her shuffle next to him, and his face burned.

"Am I holding your clothes?"

"Yes dear."

"You're still wearing underwear though, or a swim suit or something, right?" inner Clark Kent felt himself about to explode with embarrassment. Either that, or inner Clark would force outer superman to turn his head to the right... Gaia giggled and put the back of her hand on his bicep next to her. She felt him tense, and she giggled again.

"Would you like to check?" from the tone of her cheeky voice alone, he had his answer.

"Why are you naked?! Why don't you wear underwear?!"

"Well if you _must_ know." She turned onto her side and looked at his face, seeing him quickly turn his head away from her. his cheeks were bright red and his body was as stiff as a pole. She grinned and put her hand on his chest. "I literally absorb energy by basking under the sun. Just like a plant I absorb the sunlight through my skin. Any of my skin that is covered up can't absorb light."

"So..." Clark gulped. "...you _are_ naked."

"Yes. But I feel much safer now _you're_ here to guard me whilst I bask."

"Oh, right." He pursed his lips together, still looking away from her as she laid back.

"I'm very grateful. I've been doing this on my own and I've always been nervous of being found by one of the other recruits. They're always trying to put their hands on me." Superman tensed. "If any of them found me naked. Well..."

"What do you mean they try to put their hands on you?" Superman looked upward again, eyebrows furrowed in a worried expression.

"Oh, it's ok. When I first got here I was corned and they were grabbing me but Miss Swift and Agramon saved me so it's ok." She put her hand on his arm, calming the man of steel. "Every other time they've tried to grab me or my cute little ass Miss Swift has kicked them, or Luna has temporarily turned them into a frog. My friends make me feel safe." She lowered her emerald eyes to look at his hand. It was still clenched into a fist. "Like _you_ make me feel safe right now."

"I was unaware you were being harassed by the other recruits." He ground out, concern heavy in his voice. "If any of the other recruits have-"

"I'm alright now." she rubbed his bicep by her side with the back of her hand, still laid on her back. "Since our training sessions became one on one I'm great." She then decided she needed to distract the man of steel. "So how about we make an arrangement that whenever I need to get naked and bask in the sunlight, you lay next to me and keep me safe? That way no one will sneak up on me and see or touch my unmentionables, whilst we're mentioning them."

"...alright...but-"

"Don't tell anyone? Trust me honey, I would rather not broadcast when my goodies will be on show to _anyone._ Oh, and as payment for this favour I don't mind if you look."

"N-no that's ok. You can trust me, I'm your mentor and friend. I wouldn't take advantage of the situation or your trust like that."

"Oh...yes...thanks." Gaia internally bawled her eyes out at that. What did a Nymph have to do to get _laid_ around here? Now, I know what you're thinking. The other male recruits were hounding her like she was a bitch in heat. If she really wanted sex, she could have it with a shake of her hips. But they were all... _Morons._ She sighed, closing her eyes and facing the warm rays of the sun.

_A girl has to have actual standards after all._ Nymphs by nature were highly sexual creatures. But they also sought out a very specific kind of sexual partner. Her specific type were the muscular ones, with a really sensitive nature. Superman was her type. He was the perfect gentleman, who blushed at her flirtatious nature and was very bad at hiding his attraction to her. Gaia was desperate for some sexual attention. In the forest back in Scotland she would use her...extraordinary gifts to lure a favourite lumberjack of hers deep into her lair for some...sexual attention. This arrangement was great, until the idiot got married. Then her forest was cut down. Not she's in Metropolis and she's been 6 months without sex.

As a Nymph, that was sending her to her breaking point. She huffed, and decided she needed to take the direct approach and do something drastic about her celibacy situation, and fast. She shuffled onto her front and leaned up on her elbows. She crossed her forearms on the roof to cover up most of her breasts, and nudged the man of steel. "I've covered up. Can you look at me a second?" he blushed, gulped, and then turned those baby blues to her determined emerald ones. "Right. Do you find me attractive?"

"...wha...?" he fell onto his side and stared at her focused expression. She wasn't teasing him this time. "You _are_ an attractive woman Gaia but-"

"But I'm your recruit, right?" she rolled her eyes and made a tutting noise. "I am _desperate_ for Sex." Clark forgot to breath. "And I need a decent guy to have sex with. I'm a Nymph Superman, I _will_ go insane without it. It's been 6 months and I'll go mad if I don't get some soon." She grumbled, clearly not caring how uncomfortable this was making her mentor. She also didn't notice the bulge forming in his red pants. "I have standards though, I'm not going to jump any guy. He has to be...kinda like you." His eyes nearly rolled out of his head. She had just confessed...what exactly? He didn't know, but she was naked, next to him, talking about needing sex for her own mental health, and just named him as her perfect guy for the job.

Oh dear. "So what I need to know sugar is if I invited you back to my room for some intense sex would you agree and would you agree to make it a regular arrangement?" He stared at her for a minute, then threw himself away from her. he sat upright with his back to her, his arms folded over his chest and his face burning.

"Gaia, I am your mentor. I swore to protect you, train you and respect you. If I have been inappropriate with you in any way to suggest a sexual intention towards you I _humbly_ apologise."

"...so that would be a _no_ then?" Gaia released a comical groan and patted his back. "It's alright. I just needed to know. I'll stop flirting with you now and just be your friend."

"That would be better." Superman didn't move from his 'I-can't-look-at-you position.

"You can lay back down now."

"Are you still naked?"

"Well, yes. I'm still basking. That wasn't a load of bull just to get naked with you Big S."

"Oh, right, of course. Just...let me know when you're done."

"Ok." She giggled, enjoying the heat of the sun on her skin. "We're friends now, right?"

"...right." He ran a hand through his hair, regretting agreeing to having this minx as his recruit. "So I can ask you a sex related question as a friend, right?"

"We are not being friends with benefits." He groaned, holding his head. At that she snorted a laugh and play hit his back.

"No, dummy." He relaxed at that, feeling very much out of his depth around the evergreen beauty. Particularly when all he wanted to do was jump her. "I mean as like a man friend. Like a conversation man friends have about girls. Like you and Batman have."

"No." He chuckled without restraint. "Although Batman and I are very much trusted friends, we have _never_ talking about girls."

"Damn." She blinked at the large S on Superman's cape. "No wonder he's sexually frustrated."

"_Gaia?!"_

"What? I'm a Nymph. I can sense when people are sexually in need." She then smirked. "It's part of why I propositioned you." He flinched at that, and decided it was too dangerous to challenge her on that fact. Especially as it was true... "Anyway, I'm sure you have guy friends you talk to about going out and doing guy things."

"...and you're point is?" He turned his head inquisitively, but not enough to look at her. "What do you want to ask me?"

"Well, like I said before, I really need to get laid before I start going bonkers, so I was going to ask you where in this large metal jungle I could find young, cute and sensitive men like you, that would say _yes_ to a sex-a-thon with me?" For a moment he lost his voice entirely. "Erm, Big guy? You aren't saying anything...come on sugar we're friends now." She laughed. "Friends talk about going out to party and getting a little something something. Guys especially. Coooomme oooooon."

"There are a few places." He coughed into the back of his hand. "But I hardly think that you'll be sending the right kind of image for the justice league if you're spotted...picking up guys." He said as delicately as he could. He started to question his stance on not having sex with her...but his morals wouldn't allow it.

"Well I wouldn't be spotted." She giggled and tapped his shoulder. "Look, I have a disguise." Clark had heard a shimmering noise. Happily he turned and looked at his recruit.

Yes she had a disguise.

Her skin was a healthy peachy colour with her hair being a golden colour, thick and wavy as before. Her eyes were still forest green, and her lips a deep rosy colour. The disguise however was literally skin deep. She was still completely naked. Superman smacked his hands over his eyes and released a rather feminine squeal. "Hmm? Oh, right, yeah still in the nude. Here, I'll help you." He felt her hands on his shoulders, turning him back around. "There, no naked woman to see over there." But it was too late. Burned forever into the back of his eyes was the image of her beautiful naked body. Yes it was missing it's true green pigment, or the exotic nature of her hair and aura. But she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her legs were long, her stomach was toned with just enough flesh to give her a sexy hourglass figure. Oh those breasts...so round and firm looking, with dusty pink nipples begging to be trapped between his fingers and teeth...even the neck urged him to dive in with incessant nipping and licking. Superman now had an erection in his red pants and the need to fly far away from this woman before he did something very much against his moral code.

"Thanks." He mumbled, keeping his knees bent as he sat there, hoping she didn't notice his arising...problem. Gaia giggled and shimmered back to her natural green hues.

"So now you can see that I can look normal, where are the hottest places in town? Hmm?"

"Well...I guess The Cocobana Club is all the rage at the moment. Lots of popular Latin music and pop and RnB and stuff..."

"OOooo, that sounds fun." Gaia giggled and wriggled on the roof happily. "I'll see if the girls want to go too. Some of them are almost as mungry as I am."

He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. But he _just_ had to ask.

"What's mungry?"

"Oh. Man hungry. Hungry for men. A hunger for man-flesh inside-"

"Got it." He gulped and felt the mental ricochet of his innocence running full pelt into the sex wall. "Why can you even sense that anyway?" He grumbled awkwardly, not expecting an answer...

"Well, it helps a Nymph select a partner. If the man or woman if sexually frustrated and/or horny then they're a better target, with a higher chance of successfully-"

"I'm sorry." Superman realised he still held her clothes, and gently threw them over his shoulder so they landed on her stomach. "But what do you mean, man or woman?" her brow raised at that. She was referring to male or female, as the Nymph can be male or female. But she wouldn't be a Nymph if she missed up the chance to tease someone who obviously felt uncomfortable sexually. It was just fun.

"Oh, well Nymph's are very sexual creatures. We find pleasure in my places." She smirked at him, almost seeing the blush through the back of his head. "You can ask me if you like."

"...ask you what?" he gulped, digging his fingers into his knees with an iron like grip. He briefly thought that they must like quite the pair. Her naked and teasing him, Superman of all people shying away from the sexy creature and sat up in a foetal like position. He was almost ashamed of himself.

"If I've ever had sexual relations with the fairer sex." Ooooo this was too good. If he could have melted into a puddle of embarrassed goo, he would have right then. "I'll answer you honestly."

"That is none of my business."

"But we're friends. Friends _share _their business."

"I'm good thanks." He coughed into the back of his hand and looked over to a large skyscraper. He almost wanted someone to cry out for Superman to come and save them. Just so he could get away from this conversation.

"Alright. I would have answered you though." She smirked, thoroughly amused with herself. "I could lay here all day. But another 20 minutes or so will give me one lot of healing in me. 40 minutes a day keeps me topped up. Are you good to join me same place same time for the same programme tomorrow?"

"...I guess I should. That way you can recharge in safety." His cheeks burned and he licked his dry lips.

"Ok. I'll let you sit there quietly for 20 minutes then while I bask." Superman released a content sigh at that prospect. "That should help you put that erection away." His eyes bugged out and he'd never felt so much shame in his life.

"...thanks..."


	7. Chapter 7

And that was how after 3 weeks of being beaten into the ground, all the Sisters of Justice decided it was time for a night out on the town.

"This is going to fucking Rock." All the women involved were hyped, and they all agreed that they could trust each other with their secret identities. Luna suggested they packed a bag of everything they needed to change, and come back to 'her place'. Wherever that was... "You know what Gaia, I could kiss your green ass right now." Miss Swift stood by the entrance of the halls of justice and beamed a grin at her friend.  
"Well, I'd save that for the hot men at the club." She giggled, running her hands through her thick green hair and winking at her ebony haired friend. "Is that all you're brining with you?" She nodded to the small black backpack by the speedster's red boots.  
"Well, yeah. There isn't much needed to make this." She waved her hands over her form. "Sexy as fuck. I'm concerned you need a whole suitcase though..."  
"I couldn't decide what to wear."  
"So you brought your whole freaking wardrobe with you? Damn woman." Miss Swift tucked a stray braid behind her ear and looked into the building. "Where the hell is the rest of the pack?"

"N-no I'm fine, really."  
"NO way. You are SO coming out with us." Luna had one hand gripped around Mystic X's wrist, the other around Agramon's.

Little to say the witch wasn't going anywhere. "Both of you."  
"No offence Luna." Agramon stood there quite casually and smiled at her determined friend. "But I'm going to stand out in the club."  
"No you won't." Luna stopped pulling, but didn't release them either, to the redhead's disappointment. She wiggled her nose and in a poof of smoke a poster appeared, floating in the air in front of the witch's body. "Tonight is fancy dress night at the The Cocobana Club! We can all put on costumes and dance like crazy! People will so think you're wearing an amazing costume! And you can shake your grove thang with us!" Agramon blushed and looked off to one side.  
"...I've never danced before...is it hard?"  
"Nope! It's the easiest thing in the word! Come on! It will be fun!" Bright blue eyes demanded the witch got her way, beaming from the demoness's nervous crimson orbs, to the reluctant brown ones of the psychic. "Now stop resisting and get your butt in gear." The poster vanished and Luna resumed her pulling.  
"No way! I can't even dance!" Vivian clawed at the wall with her free hand and held on for dear life. "I don't do crowds of people."  
"Why not?" Luna and Agramon sang at the same time curiously.  
"Because!" She squeaked when she still couldn't get free. "Large crowds of people plus a telepath equals me with a freaking headache the size of Gotham. No thanks!"  
"What is going on here?" the three women halted in their thoughts and movements to look to the new arrival. The Martian Manhunter had sensed his recruit's peaked anxiety and made haste in getting to her side. He'd expected trouble. Not this. "Are these not your friends?" his deep orange eyes looked at the trio.  
"Yes, well, not at the moment." Vivian laughed nervously and continued struggling. "I told you no!"  
"But it would be good for you!" Luna released Agramon to bear hug her skittish friend. "We've been working hard for 3 weeks now; all of us are in need of stress relief and a bit of fun. And besides, if crowds of people really mess with your mental Juju then this could be practise for you! You can clock this up to some extra brain training, right?" Luna grinned from ear to ear at the blue Martian, her eyes bright and pleading. "Please?"  
"Why are you asking him!? I said no!"  
"I say yes." J'onn nodded and put his hand on her shoulder. "In this occupation you will be amongst crows of civilians and villains on a regular basis. If you are unable to cope in these situations, you could let one of your friends get hurt. As you mentor this is something that concerns me greatly."  
"B-but!"  
"Nope!" Luna bounced on her feet, waving for Agramon to lend a hand. "Her teacher ordered her to go with us, so we better do it! Wouldn't want to upset her mentor now." The witched cackled evilly, rubbing her hands together, and pulling them apart, holding either end of a long black sparkly rope... Vivian tried to turn and run, but the hand of her mentor on her shoulder held her in place. She looked at him in bewilderment, about to ask what he was doing, when he saw a small curve to his lips.

Damn him?! he found this funny!  
"Go and improve your abilities to further your training Mystic X." He distracted her as Luna and Agramon wrapped the rope around her middle. "I will forgo your training tomorrow in favour of this task."  
"That will help her with the hangover, thanks." Luna snickered, rubbing her hands together with glee. Oh she had plans for them all tonight.

When Gaia came sauntering into the canteen earlier that morning with a suggestion that they all go clubbing, Luna saw stars. This would be so much fun! She'd been so bored these last few weeks. Superman never laughed at her jokes, and he always got frustrated at her methods. This was going to be fun!  
"Hangover!?" Vivian squeaked, finding herself hoisted up into Agramon's arms.  
"Oh yeah. Party ho!"

Luna lead the way to the entrance, only to find the hissing redhead shoved at her. "What? Where are you going wings?"  
"I just want to ask if Shade wants to come...is...is that ok?" the demoness put her hands together, pleading. "She is kinda nice to me and-"  
"Sure, go get her. it will make her assimilation into our group easier. I will acquire her to my collection." Luna cackled from the belly up, plotting many amazing and fun plans. "Go on then." She put her hands on her hips, her long black pigtails bouncing with the movement. "Go get her."

"...clubbing? really?" Shade put folded her arms and stared at her through her black eye mask.  
"Yeah." Agramon held her elbows and looked at something very interesting on the floor. "It's fancy dress and stuff so I can go."  
"And where are you going?"

Ah, that was why she was nervous. Agramon had found her shadowmaster of a friend in the hallway, talking to the dark knight they shared as a mentor. Batman.  
"Oh, erm, somewhere in town. Superman suggested it to Gaia so we're all going as a group. To be safe and stuff." She chuckled nervously, feeling his gaze on her intensify for some reason.  
"Superman suggested it, did he?" His cape fell over his biceps as he folded his arms over his front. Apparently he wasn't amused by something.  
"Yeah." She flashed her eyes to him, saw his dark expression, and felt her resolve weaken like a bursting damn. "The Coco-something." His head raised with recognition, and cocked to one side.  
"The Cocobana club?"  
"Oh, you know it?" Shade stepped over to her friend's side and took Batman's attention. "I thought you were from Gotham? How did you know the name of a random Metropolis nightclub?"

Batman and Shade held a stare off, both looking bored and oozing prideful intimidation.  
"You better get going then. Tomorrow is a rest day in our training regime, so this is your best opportunity. I expect you to conduct yourselves maturely and conceal your civilian and hero identities."

With that he stormed down the corridor, his cape billowing him him.

"...Shade...thanks for that."  
"No problem." She put her hand on her winged friend's shoulder. "You know, I don't have a costume?"  
"Neither do I, but I'm sure Luna will think of something." Agramon chuckled and led her friend to the entrance.  
"Ah yes...Luna...oh boy."

"You." Batman walked up to the man of steel, stared Flash into leaving, and took a strong stance before him. "What have you done?"  
"I don't know...what have I done?" Clark blinked at his dark friend with confusion in his baby blues. "And if I say sorry now will you stop glaring at me like that B." He liked to call him B. That way, they knew he was calling him Bruce. Everyone else thought he was referring the name Batman.  
"You directed your recruit to go to The Cocobana Club in town, correct?" Superman blinked at him and felt a tinge rise to his cheeks. He's talking about Gaia.  
"Yes. She was going to go out into metropolis and wanted a nightclub. So I told her to go to that one. It's a big new club that the Daily Planet just wrote a really good piece about. Lots of security. Very fun."  
"And Very much owned by Lex Luther."  
"...what? No, no it's not." Superman chuckled nervously when the dark knight's dark expression didn't falter. "No the one owned by Lex is that branch of Club Lexcellence. The Cocobana Club just opened and-"  
"And is owned by Lex Luther." Clark blinked at his serious friend and swallowed a lump in his throat.  
"Oh shit."  
"Yes. Shit." Batman turned and pointed towards the entrance. "And Gaia is taking all the female recruits on a mass exodus out the door as we speak to go to said Lex Luther owned night club. In fancy dress."  
"Oh shit." Superman smacked his forehead.  
"Oh yes. Oh shit." Batman shook his head. "Really big guy, this is your town. You should have known this."  
"Damn. We need to go stop them."  
"Look." Batman put one hand on the back of his neck, anticipating pain there. "Nearly all of Metropolis is owned by Lexcorp. They are going to go out anyway. They will also be in fancy dress. So if we're smart, we could turn up at the club and make sure everyone is safe." Superman lowered the hand from his face, wearing more of a 'you serious' look over his features.  
"You mean...go to the nightclub...together?"  
"Not you and me." He hissed, looking around them to make sure they were alone. "I mean as Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent."  
"Oh, yeah, right." The man of steel nodded and released a deep breath. "Well, I'll meet you there then."  
"Alright. But turn up in a less conspicuous costume, and don't tell anyone I'm going. The last thing we need is the press turning up."  
"Other than me." Clark gave him a cheeky grin, to which Batman could help but smile (briefly) and roll his eyes at him.  
"Women take ages to get ready. I'll see you there in 2 hours."  
"Oh, right. Good. I might need to buy a costume." Batman smirked then, checked they were along and chuckled.  
"I have a wardrobe of them. I'd lend you one, but you're too tall. Nothing would fit you."  
"Oh yeah, thanks. You know just how to make a girl feel special." Superman lifted off the ground and saluted him. "See you later." and in red and blue blur he was gone.  
"I'm going to regret this, I know it."

All the super-heroines converged onto the roof. Luna pulled what looked like a ragtag purse from her sleeve. She whispered something into it and threw it.  
"Run!" they all skidded to the other side of the roof as an enormous burgundy gypsy tent appeared in-yes of course- a poof of smoke! "Guys, welcome to my place." She giggled and ran inside. After a few seconds her head popped out the curtain doorway. "Well come in then!"

Inside looked like a magical paradise. There were golden tapestries on the walls, spell scrolls everywhere, and beautiful sparkly lava lamps around the room. Just without the lamp part. Magic alone moved the glittery glowing goo, and Vivian couldn't help but be impressed. The middle of the room had an enormous fire place, clearly designed to hold a cauldron and to channel the smoke up and out a vent in the roof of the tent. There were no walls, but curtain screams of red and gold on cords separating sections of the tent. "Ok guys. Everything is pretty much as it seems. Some of it isn't, and don't touch anything without my permission. Any questions?" they all gulped and huddled together in the middle of the tent. "Right." She pointed upwards and beamed a smile at them. "Please follow me to the dressing area, and we'll get ready! I have working electricity so there are plenty of hairdryers, straighteners and oh yes, I have a shower too!"

Miss Swift vanished into the shower first, took all of 2 minutes and appeared in the room in a fluffy pink towel. (Luna's of course).  
"Alright Bitches, let's get sexy."

"Alright, time to pose for a picture ladies!" Luna released her camera and it floated in place in the air. She then skipped over to her merry band of menettes and they all bent over and blew a kiss to the camera. It flashed, and they all laughed.

They were all outside the club and ready and rearing to get going. Particularly Luna and Miss Swift, who had wrestled costumes onto everyone but Gaia, who managed to pick her own from 10 potential options.

Luna blew at the camera and a picture jumped out of it and onto a Polaroid picture in her hand. She grinned as she looked at it, thoroughly happy with it.

Luna was dressed in a sexy little white dress, with white leather long wedge boots, matching gloves hugging up to her biceps and a pair of fluffy white angel wings. Her thick raven locks were in their trademark position, tied into big pigtails at either side of her head, a curved fringe over her forehead. Her bright blue eyes beamed through a white eye mask, lined with white fluff like her wings. Her lips were ruby red, with red glitter sparkles in it, and her eye shadow a smoky black behind her mask.

Shade had decided to allow Luna to dress her as a witch. Anything to shut her up. She was dressed in black heels, black cobweb stockings with suspenders attaching them to her underwear. She wore a sexy little black leather dress and long leather gloves to match. She borrowed one of Luna's classic witch hats, her blonde bob looking sleek beneath it. She wore a plain black eye mask and wore a little black cat backpack. She was the designated wallet and phone holder. Her lips were black and that was as far as Luna got with her make over before Shade threatened her with the Shadowlands.

Gaia had made everyone laugh with her choice of costume. She had slipped into a pair of flat dark green pumps, a green leotard with no arms or legs to it, and long green gloves. She then covered her outfit with ivy leaves, and put a green eye mask on which consisted of two large ivy leaves with eye holes in them. In her human disguise her hair was blonde and shimmered down her back. Her lips were red and her eyes were shimmering green. Gaia had dressed up as Poison Ivy.

Miss Swift had a hard time reminding herself why she chose this outfit when they started teasing her. She wore knee high, high heeled boots, thigh high shorts, corset top and elbow length gloves. They were all yellow and covered with spots...She wore a cheetah pattern eye mask and a pair of matching kitty ears on a headband, and her lips were pink.

Oh the pussy jokes had been on tap since the evening had begun.

Mystic X had been wrestled into an outfit selected by the group on a vote. She was to stick with Luna, so Luna decided they needed to coordinate their costumes. And apparently, everyone agreed, helping her (by force) into the outfit. Imagine Luna's outfit, but red. Make the chibi angle wings into demon wings, and put a headband on her ginger head with devil horns on it. oh yeah. The sexy little she devil was not happy. Agramon joked that they matched, and that calmed her down...for a while...

The she demon herself was dressed in nothing but a black leotard, with very high legs, and low cleavage. They (Luna and Miss Swift) had pained her eyes a sparkly black and her lips crimson. Apparently she was meant to be a Succubus...Luna wouldn't let anyone explain what one of those was to her. she just said it was a popular she demon, and left it at that. snickering the whole way to the club...

Yes, Luna was geared up to lead her posy into the club to have some super fun. They all got in no problem, and as soon as they were amongst the throngs of people in the club, awe covered their faces. What was clearly once a huge warehouse had been converted into a very fancy nightclub. There was a stage at the far side with live music and a DJ. To the right of them was a wall length Bar with 10 waitresses in fancy dress. The rest of the club downstairs was a dance floor. At the far left of them was a set of stairs leading to a second floor, were there was another smaller dance floor with club music playing and booths around the circumference of the room.  
"Remember guys." Luna began. "Tonight I'm little angel. Mystic X is little devil, Agramon is little demon, Shade is little witch, Gaia is little Ivy and Miss Swift is little pussy. Oh, I mean little kitty."  
"So fucking funny bitch." She snarled, and looked to the bar. "Alright little angle I want a damn drink."  
"OH yes." The angelic witch bounced on her feet. "Let's do shots."  
"No." Vivian whimpered, getting her she devil ass dragged to the bar by her demon friend. "Traitor."  
"This is a first for me too MX." Agramon abbreviated her name, making her smile up at her. then she decided she needed to give tonight a try, for Agramon's sake.  
"Alright. But just so you know, a succubus is a sex demon that kills men during 'the act'." Agramon blinked at her, feeling vulnerable all over again. "But it's ok. At least you're not a walking pussy magnet."  
"Damn bitch I heard that!" Miss Swift yanked the redhead over to the bar and put a shot of black liquid in front of her. "Just for that, you're downing this. Right now."  
"Ooooooh maaaan." Luna handed out shot glasses of the same substance to all of them, and with one brave deep breath (and miss swift counting to 3) they downed it. And they all gagged afterwards. "What did I just drink?"  
"It's called a stomach turner." Luna shrugged, and they all looked at her with wide eyes. "What?"  
"Didn't the name put you off?" Shade shook her head, readjusting the hat afterwards. "No matter. We're here, we're packed into ridiculous outfits, let's dance."  
"Now that's what I'm talking about woman." Miss Swift grabbed her hand and dragged her onto the dance floor. The latest pop and club music was blaring over the radio, the base being loud and vibrating through all the bodies on the dance floor.  
"That looks fun." Gaia giggled and held a hand out for Mystic X. "Now then little devil, would you like to join me, poison ivy on the dance floor?" she didn't actually give her chance to answer. Gaia grabbed her wrist and dragged her over to join the throng of dancing bodies. "Follow my lead!" the Nymph giggled, looking around her intently for a moment before swaying her hips with her arms in the air. "I'm dancing like everyone else. Try it!" Vivian looked down at her sexy red devil outfit and looked over her friends. Luna had dragged Agramon close to where they were and she appeared to be teaching her to dance as well. Considering that she was shy and unsure of herself, the demoness was certainly trying her best. She had one hand on the back of her head, the other on her hip and her body was bumping and grinding with the best of them. Her wings appeared to put people off getting to close to them as they swayed behind her, so they had plenty of elbow room.

Well, if Agramon can overcome her fears of people, I can. She nodded with determination, keeping her mental guards up and looking to her floral friend with determination.  
"Tell me if I look like an idiot, ok?"  
"Of course!" Gaia yanked her against her body, spinning the girl round so her back was to her front. "Let's grind together for a bit until you get the hang of it sugar." She put her hands on the little devil's hips, making them sway and grind with hers. "That's it. now move your shoulders like this." Her hands moved them. Soon she was able to stand back and boogy facing her friend. "That's it. you look hot!"

Even Shade seemed to be rocking it with the powerful kitty cat.

"Erm, this is a bad idea." Clark Kent chuckled nervously by the bar. "I shouldn't have come out."  
"Ridiculous smallvile." Lois Lane sat at the bar, facing the dance floor, with a apple martini in her hand. She crossed one leg over the other and smirked sexily at the floor. "It has been such a long time since we got out of the office for some fun."  
"Erm, Lois, we weren't supposed to be getting out of the office." Clark chuckled nervously. Lois looked very pretty tonight. She was dressed in a long black dress with slits up the side to expose her long creamy legs. Her heels were high and black, her tights had little bats in the pattern. The neck of the dress was low and the sleeves long. She wore her long brown hair down framing her face, and had a pair of stick on fangs peering out of her crimson lips.  
"Clark, you asked me to help you pick a costume for a fancy dress party. You can't do that and expect me not to come. The prospect of Clark Kent wanting to socialise alone was worth it. So!" she smirked, looking him over with a smirk. "Who is the girl?"  
"Hmm?" He chuckled nervously, pushing his glasses up his nose out of habit. "There isn't a girl."  
"A huh...you're still a bad lair smallville." Clark took a gulp of his larger, knowing it would have no effect but still wishing it would give him some Dutch courage. He then looked down at himself. He was dressed in a cowboy outfit. A freaking cowboy outfit. Texas style boots, complete with star tipped stirrups, dark brown leather pants with felt tassels lining the outside trouser leg. The buckle was golden with a bull's head on it, his shirt was tucked into it, black and long sleeved. Over the top of it he wore a dark brown leather vest with no sleeves. And oh, the hat. The dark brown leather cowboy hat. "You look tasty though Kent."  
"I look like a cowboy with glasses."  
"Well I told you to take them off." Clark swigged his beer again.  
"Yeah, because then I'd be a blind cowboy." Lois couldn't help but giggle at that. "What?"  
"Clark, you are too cute some times. Now is she here yet?" Clark narrowed his eyes at his partner, wishing he could actually lie to the woman. But alas, he never could.  
"Yes."  
"Then what are you waiting for? round her up!" Lois pretended to lasso him, making his mood drop even further. "Ah come on Clark, you can't blame me for that! it was too good."  
"The lady has a point Clark." The less than confident man of steel looked up from his beer to see someone he thought he recognised. "Oh would you just-it's me. Bruce." The man was tall dark and handsome, dressed from head to toe in sexy black silk. He was dressed as Zorro. Black from head to toe, from the leather boots, trousers, long shirt with long sleeves, cuffed gloves and of course, the mask and hat. He had a large belt around the middle of his abdomen with golden etchings in it and a large Z, which was mirrored on his Mexican hat. A toy sword was attached to the belt, and the top half of his face was hidden by the Zorro mask. The cape was shorter than he was used to, but it would do.

Clark couldn't resist the amused grin.

Batman had chosen to come as Zorro to a party. Classic.  
"Sorry Bruce. I didn't recognise you."  
"That is the point of a costume my friend." Batman was in full Bruce Wayne mode, and winked at Lois. "And who is this fine young female specimen you've pulled?"  
"Oh dear." Lois giggled, finishing her drink. "I'm not his prize, I'm his wingman."  
"Oh. There was thinking I was his wingman." Bruce looked to Clark with an amused grin of his own. "A Cowboy Clark? Really?"  
"Her idea." He grumbled, finishing his beer. "Not mine."  
"Right...well, I see lots of potential on the floor tonight. Such as over there for instance." Bruce el Zorro pointed over to a group of girls, who at least one of them was recognisable. Mainly Agramon. How could you miss a demon with horns and wings? Luckily those who didn't know her thought she just wore a crazy cool costume.  
"Why over there specifically? Is Clark's mystery girl over there?"  
"Oh he told you about her did he?" Bruce folded his arms and shook his head at the taller man. "You seriously need to rustle up some balls man."  
"If you two can stop with the freaking cowboy jokes then-"  
"Hi there." The trio jerked to a stop and turned to find they weren't alone. Again, Bruce had to do a double take when he saw her.  
"Are you dressed as Poison Ivy? It's a sexy look." Gaia looked at Bruce briefly, and then deemed he liked himself far too much to interest her.  
"Yes. Are you dressed as Batman?" Clark nearly chocked in his throat, coughing suddenly.  
"Ouch, I'm Zorro sweetheart." Bruce smirked at her. She was definitely giving him the cold shoulder, something he wasn't used to as Bruce Wayne. "You looking for a real man to show you a good time on the floor?"  
"Yes." She turned and fisted at Clark's leather vest with both hands, pulling him away from his leaning position against the bar. "Is the real man interested in showing me a good time or what?"  
"I-but-I should-"  
"He'd love to." Lois slid off her chair and pushed him into the forward little brunette. "Go get her cowboy." Clark flashed her a scowl before finding himself deep in the throng of people. Before he could blink she was against him.

Lois giggled and looked to the flabbergasted Zorro. "Well, Bruce it seems I'm a better wingman than you. Now if you're not going to ask me to dance, and that's your loss, I'm going to get myself my own real man." At that Bruce chuckled and made his excuses. There was no way he was dancing with Lois Lane. She was the only reporter that could sniff a story a mile away. The fact she hadn't figured out that Bruce was actually Bruce Wayne was a miracle he wanted to preserve.

Clark gulped deeply, screaming in his head. Gaia had taken his cowboy hat and put it on. She then pressed her back up against his front and wriggled her sexy little body against him. Every time he tried to step away to get his groin away from her backside, she followed him and giggled at his antics.  
"Listen sugar." He blushed madly as one of her arms snaked its way up and around the back of his neck. It urged him to look down her front and down that amazing cleavage. Her deep green eyes caught his gaze and she smirked at him. "I saw you staring at me across the room trying to get the courage to come over and ask me to dance. You look so cute, so good in all that leather. I could eat you all up." She turned against him, her hands smoothing down his front and fisting at his belt. "So don't hold back ok? Relax and we'll see what happens." She winked at him and wrapped both arms around his neck. "Come on, give me some of that sugar."  
"I don't know your name." He blurted out, chuckling nervously as he did. His hands slowly took her waist, and they started swaying. "Mine is Clark. Clark Kent. I'm a reporter for the Daily planet. But I'm not working tonight." He then closed his eyes and winced. "That was a bit much wasn't it."  
"That's alright." She giggled and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, loving that he practically turned neon red afterwards. "My name is Genie Vine." Her pelvis almost fit perfectly with his as they danced; the music loud and pulsing through them. "Rub me and make a wish?" she joked, and he beamed a smile at her.  
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." He winced again. "And I am utterly useless with women."  
"Oh I don't know." Her hand smoothed down his front and she cupped his bulge. "From the action happening down here I think you work just fine. Besides, I like sweet guys." He smiled at that. "They taste so much better." She gave him a gentle squeeze, then released him. He blushed like mad at that. "Now bump and grind with me cutie."  
"Y-yes Mam!" Clark put his hands on her hips and did as he was told.

Then a dangerous thought came to him.

If she was dancing with him, she wasn't dancing with anyone else, who could be dangerous.

If she was coming on to him, she wasn't coming on to anyone else.

If she went home with him...  
I'm her teacher, I couldn't possibly sleep with her. despite it apparently being good for her health. Clark gulped, again, as she turned in his arms, again, and put his hands on her ass. Well, I'm not her teacher right now. I'm Clark Kent. Clark Kent could...he could...no I can't.

Clark sighed and prepared to talk her down and watch her from a distance instead, when she latched onto him.

Having sensed his indecision, she decided to take action. Gaia had a very specific type, and she couldn't believe her luck when she found him, looking at her like he was already checking her out. Two words. Easy prey. But the indecision wasn't something she could allow. She pulled his face down by the collar of his shirt and crashed his mouth into hers. He wriggled at first, obviously trying to say something or escape, but she wouldn't have it. she used his mumbling as a way into his mouth, her tongue sliding with his and a sexy moan vibrating where they joined.

Gaia was going to bed this man. She was determined. She was desperate and he was just her type.

Clark threw his moral code and concerns to the wind and pulled the woman against him. She released a moan of approval at him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Gaia decided she was right. The sweet guys always taste better, as he slide his lips against hers, nipping at her lower lip and licking at her masterful tongue.  
"Get a damn room woman!" they pulled apart and Gaia giggled at her friend in a cat outfit.  
"Mind your own business little kitty!" Gaia chuckled at her friend and beamed up at her prize. "You know, Clark Kent the reporter, why don't we go get a room?"  
"Wh-what?" Clark gulped, permanently blushing now. He pushed his glasses up his nose and blinked at her. "We just met. How do you know you can trust me?" Gaia smiled at him, making a warm feeling spread through his chest. She leaned forward and left a chaste kiss on his lips.  
"I have very good taste in men." She winked at him, taking his hand and pulling him towards the sexy kitty. "We're going to get a room. Tell everyone I'm good and I'll see you tomorrow."  
"...right...have fun girl." Before Clark could say anything he was being dragged towards the door. He couldn't believe this was happening! All he wanted to do was watch over her to make sure she was safe at the club, since it was owned by Lex Luther. But now he was going to 'get a room' with her...

He should put an end to this.

He should stop this right now.

He was now in a cab with the woman, the driver asking where they wanted to go. "Your place." Gaia folded one leg over the other and put her hand on his thigh. Clark nodded and gave the address to the driver. As soon as he finished speaking, she jumped him again, mounting him and kissing him deeply.  
"Oi! This isn't a limo! Don't be doing that shit back there!" the driver barked.


	8. Chapter 8

A little earlier...

Bruce watched over Clark dancing with his what he assumed was Gaia. That was his recruit and he was bumping and grinding with her. Batman didn't approve. He was pulled from his musings when he saw one of the girls from the same group as Gaia, the one dressed as sexy angle, was approached by a body guard. Whatever he whispered in her ear she seemed very pleased with, as she skipped after him.

That was worrying. Bruce made moves to stop her when he came face to face with Agramon. She was in nothing by a leotard. That was it. He couldn't stop his steely blue eyes looking over her long toned legs, her tightly packed breasts and those magnificent wings...

Yes, it was the wings. That did it for him. Though, the rest of her was pretty interesting too...

The remaining three girls with Agramon clocked him staring at her, and hatched a plot. The black woman dressed as a sexy cat walked over to him and the other two distracted the demoness. It wasn't difficult, as she was shaking her thing to the music. That was distracting Bruce...  
"Hay, you with the drooling face." It took a few seconds, but he realised she was talking to him. had he been staring that long?  
"That's not very nice. I was just appreciating the wildlife." Bruce Wayne was in full swing, whilst Batman looked through his eyes and analysed the situation. the woman seemed to be a hard ball, and clearly not interested in his charming routine.  
"Right. Well, it's petting time at the zoo Skippy. Hurt her and I'll break your legs." Bruce blinked at her, about to seriously question her on that, when he was suddenly thrust forward. He stumbled and fell face first into a pair of very nice, very firm breasts.  
"Oh dear lord! I'm so sorry!" he knew that apology and nervous voice. His pulled himself out of her bosom and took in the scene before him. His hat fell to one side for a start, so he readjusted that. he looked over his recruit, and had to remind himself that he A, didn't know her, and B, was not Batman. He was Bruce Wayne.  
"No problem. It was the nicest landing I've ever had." He winked at her, and then felt inner Batman roaring his ugly head. He held out his hand for her. "My name is Bruce. And you?"  
"Oh..." she paused, reminding herself she couldn't give the name Eve or Agramon. "It's...Demoness." she panicked. Then it was too late, and she had to run with it. "My costume, I'm a succubus."  
"Oh, a sex demon." Her cheeks burned and she severely regretted her choice of words. "Well you look the part." He then looked at his hand. "But I'm not calling you Demoness all night." He raised a brow and a smile at her. "I'll settle for D, if you like. Although I'd feel cheated as I told you my name."  
"Oh, hell." She took his hand and glared at her meddling friends, now at the other side of the dance floor. "Call me Eve. Quietly."  
"Alright." He chuckled and brought his hand to his face, and kissed it very suavely. "Your costume is amazing. I saw your wings from the other side of the club. Are you controlling their movement?"  
"Oh, yeah." She gulped and forced a smile, tucking her thick raven hair behind her ears. "With the movement of my back."  
"Ah, so the more you dance the more they move? That's a cool costume." Bruce looked around them, seeing the back end of Clark and a very clingy Gaia leaving the club. "My friend seems to be leaving with one of your friends." He commented, seeing her nod.  
"Yes she's nice though so he'll be fine. She'll be gentle with him." He raised his brow and looked at her, amused by her.  
"Is she that powerful in bed that she needs to be 'gentle' with a man?" Eve blinked at him and put her hands on her hips, about to tell off apparently. "I'd have said that of you, not her." at that she froze and her cheeks burned. "You being the sex demon and all." He saw her become very uncomfortable so he waved his hands apologetically at her. "Sorry. I got carried away. It's not every day you meet a succubus. Is this paint or a costume?" he ignored Batman yelling at him in his head and smoothed his hand up her bicep to her shoulder. "Feels like skin."  
"It's spray on latex. Feels like skin." she gulped, her wings fluttering behind her nervously. Why was this guy talking to her in the first place? Was he that impressed with her 'costume'?  
"It looks like you have it everywhere?"  
"I do." She answered quickly and saw his eyes flash up to hers through that Zorro mask. The innuendo in his gaze was clear.  
"Really? Everywhere? Huh." He licked his lips, wondering why he was finding such amusement in making her blush like this. Ah well. Bruce Wayne was on the loose and once he set his sights on a woman, for whatever purpose, that was it. "Like between your toes?" he made a show of looking at her feet.  
"Yeah." She looked over to her friends, trying to visually persuade them to come and save her. they ignored her...  
"Behind your knees?"  
"Yes."  
"How about here?" he took her hand and examined the palm. "Hmm, everywhere. Well, I have your hand now. So we better dance." Agramon squeaked as she was pulled against him and he caught her hands. "That was a really cute noise you made."  
"Stop making fun of me." She frowned, trying to pull away.  
"I'm not Eve." She stopped. The way he said her name like that...it was strangely familiar. "I'm teasing you, but I'm not making fun of you. I promise you that." Bruce thought he might give her a confidence boost, while he was here anyway. That would improve her performance in training. And maybe I'll get to slide my fingers against her wings...

He held her hip with one hand, and hand with the other. This age her no choice but to place the other on his shoulder. Eve blushed as he started to sway her to some slow music, holding her close. "Is this alright?"  
"Yes." She gulped. "I've never danced with a boy before."  
"A boy? I'm no boy Eve." He chuckled, whispering against her cheek and feeling her body shiver against him. "I'm very much a man. Women like you should only dance with me like me."  
"And...what kind of a woman do you think I am Bruce?" She whispered to his cheek, and they turned to look at each other...almost intimately. They were very close like this.  
"I think you're stronger than you think you are. I think you're kind and very gentle. I think you're a nice girl." He then winked at her with his best lady killer smile. "And I'm a bad boy. Perfect combination."  
"I don't like bad boys."  
"Well, it's an act really. I'm one of the good guys inside. Where it counts...despite my methods." He smiled genuinely at her, a rare sparkle in his eyes. It captivated her as they danced. "So Eve." He brushed his lips against her cheek again. "You don't have a pesky boyfriend or anything like that do you?"  
"What? No I don't." She blushed and looked over his shoulder. Miss Swift and the others were giving her the thumbs up. That made her blush more!  
"Good. Any long term commitments?"  
"Yes." She cleared her throat. "I have a job."  
"Oh, where? In Metropolis?"  
"yes."  
"I see." He chuckled, ignoring that the song changed to a very upbeat one. "What do you do Eve?"  
"I help people." She pulled back a little bit and wore a sad smile. "My friends aren't looking now. you can run off without fear of them getting you." She nodded to him her thanks and tried to pull back.

Bruce's face fell as she pulled away from him.  
"You really think that little of yourself Eve?" Her crimson orbs widened with shock, his words rippling through her very core. "No, I will not run off." he out his hands on her hips and pulled her body flush against his this time, putting the screaming common sense in his head back in the mental batcave. "I like you Eve and I want to dance with you. Wings and all."

She stared at him, expressionless for a good few minutes. Bruce thought he'd given the game away and opened his mouth to explain, when she started to tear up.  
"You really think I'm attractive?"  
"Eve..." he cupped her face and stared into her eyes. He knew she had self esteem issues, but he never thought they were this severe. "I think you're beautiful. You're friends only dragged me over here because they saw me staring at you."

Ok, so Bruce was walking on dangerously thin ice. He wanted to boost her confidence, not get involved with her.

Eve raised her hands to cover his on her cheeks and looked into his eyes.  
"No one has ever said anything so nice to me before." She smiled so brightly, with so much raw emotion, Batman jumped out of his mental cage and leaped at the poor girl. Her tortured lonely soul resonated with his, and he couldn't stop himself. He pressed his lips to hers, feeling her tremble against him, when it happened.

Gun shots flew through the air, people started screaming, and a very familiar cackling rang out from the top floor. It made Bruce step back from her and lose track of what he was doing.  
"I have to-"  
"Go!" Agramon grabbed Bruce and started shoving people towards the exit. He jerked to a stop and saw all hell was about to break lose. It was then he could tell which of the girls were who. Obviously as the only black woman the cheetah-esk clad woman was Miss Swift, who started running around and checking the exits and helping people out. Mystic X was the redhead wearing the sexy devil outfit, holding her temples and looking around for any trapped minds. Shade simply turned black all over and shadows around the hall started dancing. A sexy angel smashed through a window pane on a silver broom, and a demonic fist grabbed the front of his outfit. "GO!" She roared in his face, making him back off immediately. He needed to get into his Bat suit and hurry back to help them. He'd call the watch tower and J'onn in the mean time.

Earlier on, as Bruce and Clark stepped away from the bar.

"Excuse me?"  
"You've been selected as one of the hottest babes in the place." The bald body guard was dressed from head to foot in Hugo Boss, and waggling his nonexistent eyebrows at her. "Only the hottest babes get invited up by the club boss to party one the VIP level upstairs."  
"Oh, great! That sounds fun. I'll just get my friends."  
"Nah that's not how this works. Just you."  
"Oh..." Luna cocked her head to one side, her thick black pigtails swinging with the movement. "Well, ok I guess." She waved goodbye to Mystic X and promised she would only go up for an hour tops. It should be fun, she said.

As she got upstairs she was right. The party was off the hook, and she really wanted to get dancing.  
"Not yet babe." The guard grabbed her arm and pointed over to a sectioned off part of the floor. "Over there is the top VIP room with the big dogs in it. They picked you and the others off the monitor. Serve them drinks and dance for them for a few hands of cards, then you get rotated out and you can go party out there all you want." He started shoving her towards the VIP room, when Luna turned to looked at him suspiciously.  
"Did you say dance for them?"  
"Yeah. Oh, by the way. The VIP's in there as crazy dangerous. Do as you're told." He then opened the door and shoved her into the room.

Luna jerked as the door snapped shut behind her, and she examined the room. There was a large poker table in the middle of the room. At the far side was a small bar. At either side of the room were three stripper poles on raised circular platforms. On five of them were scantily dressed drunk looking girls...oh boy...  
"Hay!" She snapped her head to the table. A man with no hair, a stern expression, a cigar hanging out of his mouth and a very expensive black suit on narrowed his eyes at her. "You were briefed as to what is expected of you, yes?"  
"...yes..."  
"Then if you would." He remarked snidely, pointing to the spare pole with his free hand. Both of which were covered with perfectly manicured nails and had the odd tasteful but expensive ring on.  
"...alright." she took a deep breath and made her way over to it. just dance, serve drinks, and this will be over before I know it.  
"Just a moment." She halted in place and looked to the man she assumed to be the club boss. "I want a refill." He beckoned her over and handed her a silver tray with an empty whisky glass on it...and there was blood on the edge of the tray. "The last girl wasn't very polite to my good friend the Penguin." Her eyes flashed up to the man he gestured to, and thought was the most grotesque little man she'd ever seen. He was short, fat, wore an expensive suit and seemed to be drooling dark green saliva down his front, which was also stuffed with fish. His nose was long and crooked, and he just screamed psychopath. "I suggest you do better little angle." She simply nodded, took the tray and went over to the bar. The waiter quickly refilled the tumbler with an expensive single malt and told her to hurry back with it. Luna turned on her heels and placed it in front of him.  
"Luthor, tell the girl I want another sherry." The penguin spat, shuffling his cards in his flipper like hands. Luna quickly retrieved his glass and went over to the bar. Again she got it refilled and returned it quickly. "Obedient this one." He cackled, watching her ass as she walked around the table.  
"Would anyone like another drink?" she asked calmly, looking around the table. She might as well take intel back to home base if she found herself in this position. Something illegal was definitely going on here. And she recognised the Penguin from Gotham. Luthor she didn't know, but knew of. There were a few men in expensive suits she didn't think were anyone of note, but then there were two other people she certainly recognised.  
"Can I Mr J?"  
"Whatever, just get me another drink to and stop interrupting my thinking?!"  
"O-K. Mr J would like another Limeade with three pieces of ice and a new umbrella in it. But not a black, red, or blue one." Harley Quinn giggled from her place at the table. She didn't seem to have cards of her own, but peered at Mr J's as often as she could, cheering him on. "I want a cherry age with no ice! Now get to it angel cakes!" Luna ignored the urge to bob the hyperactive woman on the head, forced a smile and took their glasses. Everyone else seemed to replace their drinks from a hip flask. She walked over to the bar again and relayed the other. The waiter started shaking.  
"What's the problem?" She blinked at him, seeing him sweating buckets.  
"I only have black or red Umbrellas left." He held himself, and whispered to her. "The last guy gave the Joker the wrong coloured umbrella with his drink and got sprayed with Joker gas. Dead, like that. grinning like a fool forever."  
"Right. Just give me one."  
"But-"  
"It'll be fine. Trust me." Luna held a very calm face despite the face she was in the room with Gotham and Metropolis's most wanted and most dangerous. "That will do." She shook her head at the way the guy ducked behind the counter, like the drinks themselves were going to attack him. She signed and carried the tray in one hand, her other hand covering the umbrella. She walked to the Joker's side, feeling his eyes slowly look up from his cards and tear into her. She almost dropped the tray and ran, but thought better of it. Luna placed the tray on the table, her hand still over the umbrella. "What is your favourite colour?" He put his cards down and turned in his seat to look at her. The whole room stopped and stared at her.

She was going to die. That's what they were all thinking. She was talking and looking directly at the Joker. She was going to die.  
"Purple and Green." He peeled his lips back over his bright white teeth and showed her his trademark I-going-to-fuck-up-your-face-and-laugh-about-it grin. His eyes were a deep green, with crazy dancing in their depths. She thought his ruffled mottled green hair could use the love of a come, but by no means did he fail to live up to his terrifying reputation. His face really was alabaster white. He really did make you want to run in fear with a look.  
"You...want both?"  
"...yup." he started giggling and slipped a knife from his suit jacket. "if that umbrella isn't purple and green, I'm going to cut you. I'll make you smile all the time!" Luna gulped, glad she was a witch, and lifted her hand.  
"NO fucking WAY!" of the goons in a suit pointed at the umbrella with awe. "It's green with purple polkadots! How did she know?!"  
"The Joker always wears green and purple." She made quick work of putting the green fizzy drink in front of the disappointed mad man, and the red one in front of his easily excitable cling on.  
"Wow puddin! She'd like a magician!" Luna slowly walked away from the table and to the spare pole.

Inside her heart was doing flip flops. She shouldn't have done that. She shouldn't have gotten close enough to the Joker for him to stab her.

She hoped they would forget her as she danced to the music. At first she thought they had, as she swayed her body around the pole. She even got into it, shaking her ass to the R&B music blasting through the speakers. She'd be rotated out soon, surely. Luna jumped at the pole, catching it between her legs and swirling around it. she landed facing the room however, and saw that everyone had returned to the game...

...except for the Joker. Harley was holding his cards and following strict orders. He was staring at her intently, making her freeze in place. He raised a brow at her and slid the knife half way out of his jacket sleeve. She got the message and continued dancing. At first she thought it was best to dance with her back to him. Then she realised that any noise she heard could be the mad man coming towards her, so she span round and faced the room instead. She looked at the far wall, holding the pole behind her and grinding against it.

But damn her if her eyes didn't wander back to that intense gaze...

He was just staring at her with that damn grin on his face. It made her skin crawl, and not entirely in a bad way either.

To hell with this. You want to watch me? Watch this. Luna threw her hands up and started to really rock her body to the beat. She maintained eye contact with him, defiance blearing though her naughty sapphire eyes. She even went as far as to shake her ass at him, and spank herself. His eyebrows widened and he started chuckling at her. this made her giggle at her own antics.

"Hay!" Harley Quinn slammed the Joker's hand face down on the table and snarled at her. "No one makes googly eyes at Mr J but me!" She pulled a large gun from under the table and emptied the clip at her.

There was no choice.

What else could she do?

She leaned forward and blew hard. The bullets turned into daisies and fell to the floor.  
"OOoooo, tickles. My turn." She flicked her hands up dramatically, sending everyone in the room against the nearest wall, tangled in fluffy pink netting. "Oh, if you cut it, it moves to cover you more and tighter." She giggled as Harley started chewing it. "Aren't you so cute?" Luna waved her hands over herself, her angel outfit shimmering into her normal costume. Black high heeled witchy boots, red fishnet tights, black sleeveless corset dress, with a red lacy netting underskirt, red fishnet fingerless gloves, black eye mask with red netting around the edges, a black witches hat on with a red ribbon around the base. She pulled her silver broom buckle from her red dog collar, and blew the Joker a kiss with her crimson lips. the super villains were cutting through her netting. She would need to leave soon... Luna blew on her buckle and it extended into a long silver broom. "I have a tip for you. Don't select a Witch from the crowd of girls to serve you in your vip room, and then mess with her. Witches aren't exactly known for playing fair." The Joker got out of his restraints first, seemingly having...a small blow torch under his jacket. Hmmm yup, time to go.  
"Nice trick toots. Have one of mine. It's a real blast." He pulled a purple grenade from his jacket and advanced on her.  
"Honey, unless in your magical jacket of goodies you have some lube, a ramped rabbit, some handcuffs, condoms and a promise to be gentle with me, I'm not interested in your tricks. Besides!" she swung on leg over her broom and lifted up into the air. "I don't play second fiddle to anyone."  
"I'm blocking your escape doll face." Joker stood in the door way, pulling out a large gun so he was twice as likely to kill her. "Come and play with your friend the Joker."  
"Nah...Doesn't seem like fun." She then clocked the window by her side, between two of the poles. She heard the pin coming off the grenade and leaned forward on her broom. She crashed through the window, feeling glass shards slice at her face and arms. The grenade followed her, so she turned sharply and used the end of the broom to smack the grenade back into the VIP room. She screamed for everyone to get out and followed the throngs down the stairs to the bottom level.

Her friends must have heard the commotion as they were evacuating the club as quickly as possible. She couldn't see Gaia anywhere. She assumed she must have already left. Luna landed in the middle of the girls with a huff and panting like crazy. "Joker, Penguin and so many other bad guys are up there. We can't take them. We don't stand a chance against them right now. We need to run. Now."  
"NOT SO FAST DOLLFACE!" The Joker was leading the assault down the stairs, cackling and firing in their direction. "We have so much more to talk about!"  
"Run!"  
"Right. Agramon grabbed Shade, who returned to her non shadow self. With a powerful beat of her wings the Demoness soared out of the door, following a black and yellow blur, and followed by Luna and Mystic X on a broom stick.  
"Follow me!" Miss Swift tore through the streets, heading for the halls of justice using the quickest route as possible. She pulled her mobile out of her shorts pocket and rang Flash.  
"...wha...? you know what time it is?" He grumbled down the phone at her.  
"We're being chased by the Joker, the penguin, some chic in a jester outfit and a big dude in a suit. We're coming to the halls, so you better get your ass out and save us mother fucker!" She hissed, jumping out the way in time to miss an explosion. "The Joker is shooting at us with a motherfucking bazooka! That is some scary shit right there."  
"I'm already on my way!" the phone died, and she put the phone away.

J'onn! Help! We're being chased by-  
By an ensemble of very evil villains. Yes, Batman has informed me.  
He has?!  
Yes, he is perusing you as we speak, and I am flying from the watch tower now. be strong and remain calm Vivian Harper.

"Shit, I don't have Superman's number." Luna hissed, swerving her broom to miss another grenade. "SERIOUSLY!? HOW MANY OF THOSE DO YOU FUCKING HAVE?!" she screamed back at him, seeing him wink at her, before aiming at her with the bazooka. "WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET A HELICOPTER FROM ANYWAY?!"  
"LEX LIKES TO TRAVEL IN STYLE!" He barked back, giggling as she swerved away from his missal. "HAY DOLL FACE."  
"WHAT?"  
"STOP MOVING SO I CAN KILL YOU." Luna rolled her eyes at him and watched Agramon turn sharply round a corner. Luna followed suit, trying to do it as late as possible so the helicopter couldn't make the turn.

Damn the Joker if he didn't start turning before she did. "I SAW THE BITCH TURN TOO, IDIOT." He cackled, smacking his knee with mirth and wiping a tear from his eye as she pouted back at him. "Ok, I've had my fun now. pass me the big gun Harley."  
"Yes sir Mr J!"

Luna watched the Joker hoist a Tank penetrating bazooka onto his shoulders with a huff, making the other bazooka look like a water gun.  
"MOVE NOW!" she screamed, and heard the sound of the weapon being fired.

Three things happened at once in that moment.

The Martian Manhunter flew into the missal, phased through it and threw the explosive element out into space.

The Flash jumped up at super speed, wrapped his arms around Luna, Mystic X and the broom, and zipped off with them out of the missal's way.

Batman tore through the air in the Bat Jet, machine guns lowering from the wings, and the hanger bay door open. He opened fire on the helicopter, making it concentrate its fire on the jet instead of the recruits.

Luna and Mystic X jerked to a stop outside the halls of Justice.  
"Stay here. I'll be right back." the Flash zipped out of sight again, and reappeared on the battle field. He ran alongside Miss Swift, who seemed to be thoroughly freaking out. "Hay, are you still in there?"  
"What do I do here?"  
"Run back to the halls of justice and don't stop until you get there."  
"Yes boss, but my friends-"  
"Two are waiting for you, I'm getting the other two now."  
"Right." She sped up and bolted towards safety. The original speedster did a sonic speed u-turn and ran towards the battle. "Hay! Down here wings!" Agramon spotted him from her swerving aerial position, and swooped down to him.  
"Take Shade."  
"Take who?" Shade squeaked as she was dropped from several feet in the air, into Flash's arms.  
"I'll be back for you! Keep safe!" he sped off with the shadow master, deposited her with her terrified friends, and returned to find Agramon doing the opposite of keeping safe. She was proving a moving target for the Joker and his bazooka, which had already caused one of the batjet wings to start smoking badly. J'onn was blowing out the fire and Batman was still shooting and pursuing the helicopter. "Oi! That's not safe!"

Agramon then did something really dangerous.  
She pulled her wings in and sped through the air faster than a falcon, flying through the helicopter, grabbing a fistful of the Joker's jacket and the Penguin's suit.  
"HAY!"  
"Look how high you're getting before you even try to fuck with me." The villains held onto her clawed wrists for dear life, seeing they were more than one skyscraper high. As they looked up at their captor they saw fangs, horns, and blazing red eyes. "I'd as soon as drop you as anything else for attacking my friends. Want to test me?"  
"You wouldn't dare."

She dropped them both.

"AAAAAAA!"  
"JOKER YOU DAMN FOOL!" they fell through the air, the Joker laughing his head off and the prospect of finally dying, when the feeling of the back of his collar being fisted in tight clawed hands was followed by being suddenly being jerked back up into the air.  
"Oh look, your little bird just went boom." Batman shot the helicopter down and Flash made 'quick work' of tying everyone up. Including Harley.  
"You're no fun!" Joker wriggled against her hold half heartedly. "Like the bat-brain."  
"Funny you say that." she swooped up into the bat jet, where Batman was waiting by the hanger bay door for her. she landed with a super villain under each clawed food and hand. "Move a muscle and I'll go for your throat."  
"But-" She opened her mouth wide and snarled by their ears.

Both men stopped moving.  
"Sir?" Batman was actually smiling. She blinked and he was back to his usual self. Did she imagine the smile?  
"That was incredibly stupid!" The dark knight barked at her, using reinforced plastic black prisoner ties to tie up the Joker first, then the penguin. "You could have gotten yourself shot. You are far from combat ready." He scolded her, throwing the two super villains against the wall and strapping them in. "The other recruits all did as they were told and returned to base. Even Luna. And she argues about everything. You disobeyed a direct order! You could have been killed."  
"Sorry sir." She gulped and held her elbows, looking at her feet. "I just wanted to help..."  
"AAAaahhh come on Bats! Don't be such a hard ass." Joker giggled, wriggling against his restraints. "She bagged you yours truly and bird boy over here. No need to be so mean about it! Hay, kid." Joker turned his grin at her. "Why don't you ditch this boring old fart and come over to the fun side! We have cake and clowns! And of course, we are very proud of our demon babes! I wouldn't tell you off for trying to help me like this guy."  
"Shut up Joker." Batman snapped, pulling good old fashioned duck tape from his utility belt.  
"OOOooo, and wings, whilst you at it bring that Witch with you." Joker giggled, seeing these next words would be his last for a while. "She's fun and makes my drinks just how I likes 'um!" the tape when on, and he laughed incessantly all the way back to Arkham. Penguin just sulked, grumbling to himself angrily.

For a while Agramon stood in the hanger bay with the prisoners, until Batman ordered him to come and join him in the cockpit.  
"Yes sir?"  
"...you disobeyed orders." He scolded again, but with less venom this time. "Never do that again, understood? It's for more than your own safety."  
"Yes sir. I know sir. I'm sorry sir." Batman set the jet into auto pilot and looked at her. she'd been so proud of herself when she landed in the hanger bay with them, looking up at him with bright red eyes. Now she looked like a different woman. So worthless and pathetic.  
"...you did pretty well though. Better than I thought you'd be at this stage. Clearly you are a very skilled aerial fighter and I will incorporate that into your training from now on." she still didn't look up. "I'm saying that putting the disobedience aside...I'm proud of you today. None of the other recruits were capable of holding their own like you were today. They all ran and panicked. You jumped into action and you did well. Well done." She lifted her gaze from the floor and looked at him with just the twinkle of hope.  
"You don't have to say that to make me feel better about myself sir. I know I did wrong today. I understand." She turned to go back to the hanger. Batman jumped to his feet and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to face him.  
"I swear to you Agramon, I will never say anything to you I don't mean with all that I am. You did well today. I'm proud of you."  
"Ok sir." She just nodded at him.

Damn she was delicate. He attacked her confidence and floored her self esteem. Even though he was praising her now, she wasn't having it. he sighed and released her hand.  
"We're over Arkham. Wait here while I drop these two off."  
"Yes sir."

Batman lowered from the jet with the prisoners and made quick work of handing them over. He returned to the jet as soon as possible and found sat on the floor in the hanger bay. He waved for her to join him up front and made her sit in the chair next to him this time.  
"So." Batman began, not as silver tongued when wearing his cowl. "Want to explain why you're wearing that, and why you were all involved with the Joker and such?"

Agramon gulped, knowing she actually have a choice in the matter.  
"Well the club we went to seemed normal and great. There was a VIP room upstairs and they asked Luna to go and have fun up there. I didn't know until she'd already gone. I wouldn't have let her go alone otherwise."  
"Good. Continue." Ah yes. Talk of the mission, of work. This was a safe topic for Batman.  
"After a short while we heard gun shots, breaking glass, people started running and Luna flew into the room. We got as many people out as possible, then ran out ourselves as soon as Luna explained the situation. I grabbed Shade, Luna grabbed Mystic X and Miss Swift ran up front. Gaia had already left ages ago so we knew she was safe. We avoided enemy fire and then you turned up. The rest you know."  
"Right. Good. I'll check get Luna's story later. she was up there with them for a while, so she might have unknowingly gathered some intel."  
"Ok."

Batman looked to the sad woman. If only he was Bruce Wayne right now. Then he could make her smile and laugh.

And then there was that kiss.

He stiffened in his chair, taking the wheel and manually flying back to the halls of justice to drop her off.

It had been brief, but it was going to be so much more. How soft and delicate her lips were. How they trembled against him, and yet pressed back for more.

He mentally shook that off. that was dangerous and can't ever happen again. Agramon was his recruit. JL mentors can not be inappropriate with their pupils.

Batman hovered outside the main doors and said nothing as she got to her feet. He didn't stop her dropping out of the bat jet, or walking inside the building he owned. He released a pained sigh, feeling his loneliness inside his chest get that little bit bigger, as he flew the jet back to the batcave for some much needed rest.


	9. Chapter 9

Back with Gaia and Clark at the Kent apartment...

The door to Clark Kent's unloved apartment creaked open and a hand felt for the switch, the rest of him attached to a secret Nymph. She jumped at him, her legs wrapped around his waist, arms around his neck and lips making love to his. The man of steel held her ass with one hand, and found the switch with the other.

"Sorry for the mess-"

"Don't care." She ran her hands through his hair and took his lips back. He stumbled around the apartment carrying her. man she was intense! "Bedroom." She commanded, and his body said yes. He walked into the bedroom and lowered her onto her back on the bed. She released him then, leaning up on her elbows and looking at him hungrily. "Clothes off big boy." Her voice was husky with sultry tones, her hands eager as she attacked his belt.

Clark lost his voice by this point and just went for it. He struggled not to tear the clothes off as he undressed, pausing every now and then to watch her undress as well. He released a guttural moan as he saw her naked again. She was just like he remembered on the roof. But this time she had the look of a starving animal on her face, her legs parted from her position on the bed, and he could see all of her. "OOooooooh come here."

This was his last chance to do the right thing, and stop. After this, there was no going back.

Clark hesitated only for a moment, before he crawled onto the bed above her. Gaia felt the mood change considerably and went with it. it was intense and deadly serious.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please make love to me Clark."

"You hardly know me." He stroked some of her golden hair from her face. "We shared names and danced for all of 15 minutes. Now we're naked and you're in bed with me. I just, are you sure you want to-"

Clark found himself on his back in an instant, and before he could gather himself, his world exploded. He fisted at the bed and leaned up to find the source. Gaia was between his legs, one hand around the base of his erection and her lips bobbing up and down it. he whimpered, his body trembling from the sudden and powerful pleasure of it. her mouth was so wet, and her tongue dragged up the length of his cock, paying homage to it. The man of steel released a pained cry as she swirled the crown against her lips and tongue, before swallowing it down again. "Fuck." He had to stop himself from moaning Gaia. "Genie, you don't have to-"

"Just relax Clark. I know what I'm doing. We're going to have lots of fun tonight. Enjoy it sugar." She winked at him, and drowned his protests with her lips locked around his cock.

She definitely won the lottery with this one. He was so muscular! This reporter worked out. his thighs were pumped, as were his pecks and biceps. She smoothed one hand over his six pack as she bobbed on him. He trembled, apparently trying hard not to thrust up into her mouth. That was very nice of him, she thought.

Then there was his actual groin area itself. His balls weren't overly large or hairy, just right. His shaft was wide and long, best of both worlds and not to be mounted in a hurry. He wasn't circumcised like most American men seemed to be, so she could nip and play with his foreskin. He was so hot in her mouth, and she could feel the blood pulsing through it. she grinned as she took him in and out of her mouth. This was going to be so much fun.

"Ga-Genie! Stop! I'm going to cum if you keep going." He tried to reach for her head to held her off him, but she tightened her grip around the base of his cock and seemed to suck him harder. "Fuck, I-I can't stop it. I-oh shit. I-I." He grunted in his throat, cuming hard in her mouth. His body trembled and he panted through his orgasm, questioning why it had been so long since he last did this. It felt soooooooo gooooood. "Genie..." when he came down from his high he leaned up on his elbows to watch her. She had apparently swallowed his load and was lapping at his softening cock hungrily. He watched her, wishing his cock would go straight back up again. It wouldn't take him long, but his Kryptonian stamina and recovery time wasn't quite that good. "Genie...No one has ever done that for me before."

"Given you head?" Gaia licked her lips and crawled over him on the bed. She arched her body above him like a cat, licking his cheeks sexily. "I find that hard to believe Clark."

"I've had sex but never a blow job."

"Well there you go. One to add to the books." She winked at him and giggled cheekily. "Now honestly, how long will it be until you're ready to go again?"

"Oh, about..." better be generous as there is a lot of pressure to perform here. "10 minutes." Usually it was 5 when he occasionally pleasured himself in the shower, but he thought it was better to give himself longer.

"No really sunshine. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." She giggled, seeing he was eager to please her. he leaned up and kissed her. Gaia jerked back and stared at him. "You don't have to kiss me you know. Not with the taste of your cum in my mouth. I get it, don't worry." Clark pushed up on his hands to sit up. He then pulled her onto his lap and leaned into her neck. He timidly put his hands on her shoulders as he planted gentle kisses against the crook of her neck. Gaia blushed at the gentle manner of his ministrations, his hands ghosting down her arms to her wrists, and then back up again. She lulled her eyes closed and leaned into him.

Clark decided he wanted to explore her glorious body. He briefly thought the only thing that would make this better would be if she was in her usual skin, in all her green glory. He slipped his colossal hands under her arms and held her back. "...Clark." she whimpered, feeling cherished in his embrace. Her nipples scratched against his impenetrable chest and her hands held onto his shoulders for support. He lowered her to her back and practically hovered over her, so close his body heat radiated through her.

"Can I play with you?" Gaia looked up into his nervous baby blues. In any other situation that kind of sentence warranted a good teasing. Maybe a comment that she was a woman, not a toy. But right here right now with Clark, it was the most serious question in the world.

"Do whatever you want to me Clark." The Nymph cupped the side of his face and smiled brightly at him. "Tonight I'm all yours."

"Then let me kiss you." He leaned in and ghosted his lips over hers. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and moaned. The taste in her mouth wasn't all that bad. Most of his cum was gone and she was well worth kissing. Her body writhed beneath him, her hands clawed at his chest and she made addictive little whimpering noises as he kissed her. He nipped at her chin, trailed hot wet kisses down her neck and growled at her breast. Her dusty pink nipples were pert and daring him to touch them. Clark leaned down on one hand and the other cupped the outside the left breast. He dragged his tongue heavily over the nub, releasing an animalistic groan from the woman. It was her turn to claw at the bed and tremble as he put his mouth on her. Clark was no expert, but he was certainly good at what he was capable of. He massaged the mound and took the nipple into his mouth. Swirling it with his lips and tongue made her spasm under him even more, especially when he dragged his teeth against it.

"Oh Claaaaaarrrk." Gaia whimpered and tangled her fingers in his thick raven hair. He leaned up and looked at her with lust drugged eyes.

"I'm hard again if you want me to go in now."

"My lord you have stamina." She grinned up at him and bit her bottom lip. "Oh yes. I am so hungry for you. I can't wait to feel you fill me up." She made him blush madly with all the dirty talk, something she thoroughly enjoyed. Clark looked around them and shuffled down the bed. He then grabbed her under her knees and pulled her down the bed like she was weightless. "Wow, you've got quite the muscles on you."

"Yes they're useful." He smiled shyly, that being the closest Clark Kent ever got to innuendo or sexy talk. "I'd erm." He gulped. "I'd brace yourself against the headboard." He chuckled nervously, pointing to said headboard.

"You're telling me I'm going to need to hold on ey?" she chuckled, deciding to go along with it. She was a Nymph. She was quite experienced at this and thought it was cute that he was trying to make out he was going to be quite the animal. "How's this?" she pushed palms of her hands against the bottom of the head board.

"No, hold onto the bars. You can...brace yourself better." He smiled through the sceptical raised brow, and didn't move until she did as she was told. "Ok."

"Wow." She flinched and looked down. He'd shoved a finger inside her folds with no warning. After the initial surprise was over she allowed herself to writhe against the finger. "Oh that's good. But your dick would be better Clark."

"You're not wide enough yet." He blushed and shoved another finger inside her. She was so hot and wet inside. It took all of his self restraint not to mount her right then. But he didn't want to hurt her. "Soon." She whimpered unhappily, albeit still clearly enjoying him playing with her. Clark tried to burn the image of her pleasure wracked body wriggling on his bed into the back of his mind. The sound of her moaning, the smell of her hair, the taste of her lips, and the feel of her inner walls pulsing around his fingers. Her pussy was as delicate and powerful as the rest of her. Her folds so soft and warm, and her clit was as moist as the rest of her. He looked to her moaning face and then back to her nub. "Very soon." He thumb of the same hand he was pleasuring her with over her clit. At first he thought he hurt her the way she violently jerked and yelped. But then she begged him for more, so he gently circled her clit with his thumb, continued to slide his fingers in and out of her.

"Damn it Clark if you don't fuck me soon, I'm flipping you over and raping you." Superman looked at the Nymph, seeing she was about to get up and do just that.

"Alright. Just don't rush this ok." He pulled his fingers out of her and stroked himself a few times to transfer as much of her juices to his cock as possible. He then licked his fingers and slickened her entrance. He grabbed her hips and made her arch her pelvis up. He shuffled himself further up, kneeling as close to her as possible and leaning over her.

"Oh Clark!" She bedded, digging her heels into the bed and lifting her pelvis to find him. Actually, he thought, that was pretty useful.

"Hold that pose right there." She did so and he made his move. He held her hip with one hand, the base of his cock with the other and tentatively guided the crown of his shaft inside her. He hissed, feeling the intense heat and pressure of her around the tip of his cock, resisting the urge to plough into her.

"OOoo oh oh." Gaia grit her teeth. He really was a big boy. But she was adjust quickly. I might not walk the next day, but damn it, it will be so fucking worth it. "More!" she begged, which was enough to get a couple more inches inside her. Clark held both her hips now and pulled her hips towards him a bit at a time.

"I'm sorry." He panted, using all his self control, shaking from the fight he was having. "I'm trying to be gentle."

"Don't!" she growled at him, almost glaring at him with her resolve. "Get inside me you mighty beast of a man. Or I'm flipping you ov-ooooo!" Clark shrugged half way through the sentence and pulled her hips against his to the hilt. She screamed with pleasure and pain, arching against him and the bed.

"Are you ok?" he held her there, her cock pulsing inside her and desperate to start driving in and out.

"Oh yes Clark." She licked her lips heavily, her breasts rising and falling as she panted with need. "Please fuck me Clark. Please."

"Ok." He knelt up and held her hips off the bed and against him. Super strength had its perks. He held her hips in place and slid half way out. he then pushed back in slowly.

"No! Faster than that pleeaaase." She whined and used her grip on the headboard bars to push more of him into her.

"Alright. Fine. Just tell me if it gets too much." He threw caution to the wind, pulled out to the head, and thrust back into her. she moaned loudly. Her head arched back and sparks of pleasure shot through her. He rammed her hips in the air over and over again, picking up the pace all the time and making her very grateful for the grip she had on the handle bars. It was the only thing keeping her balance and not making her body feel like a ragdoll.

However, Gaia was Nymph.

Nymph's don't lay there and talk it. no matter how good 'it' is.

Gaia summoned all her strength to wrap her legs around his middle and pull herself up. He halted his movements as he tried to figure out what she was doing. her arms wrapped around his neck and pressed against the wall. She used her hips to ease him to sit down. Clark did as he was urged without question. As long as it meant he got to stay inside her, he didn't care. "Everything ok?"

"Oh yes. Better than I could have hoped for." She latched onto his mouth, sucking on his bottom lip hotly. His hands still held her hips and he moved with her when she started to lift off him, and slam back down. He started to lift her hips up and pull them down, making her squeal with heavy delight. The forest Nymph grabbed his strong shoulders for leverage as she moved faster, fucking him into the bed. In this position she had Clark's super cock filling her up and touching her inner walls in all the right places, and her clit rubbed against his body every time she rose and fell on him. Dam of her pleasure was getting ready to burst, and she dig her fingers into his shoulders. Clark looked up at just the right time. she looked up and opened mouth, releasing the sound of angels. She moaned, her face fixed in erotic pleasure and her body arching against him. the torrent of pleasure rippled through her body from the point they were joined to the tips of her fingers. She clung to him desperately as she rode the waves of her orgasm, not missing how Clark held her body close to his to support her. "OOooooh." She groaned and flashed open her love drunk green eyes at his adoring baby blues. "Hay Clark."

"Yes?"

"Your turn." She whispered huskily with a smirk, grabbed his shoulders, and started riding him like a bull in rodeo. Gaia was a Nymph. No woman had more sexual prowess than a Nymph. The man of steel's eyes were wide with amazement as she shoved him against the wall and positively bounced up and down on his cock. He strangled a guttural moan as she thrust against him. He gripped her hips and helped her keep up the mental pace of their writhing bodies. He pressed his face between her breasts, licked and nipped them, at some point left an accidental open mouth sized hicky between her breasts. She rammed him into the bed and against the wall with wanton need, feeling a second orgasm zoning in on her. "Fuck Clark. I might get addicted to this." The Kryptonian snarled suddenly, pushing her off and pulling out in the process. "What?" Gaia panted and looked up at him. "Did I say something wrong? I-"

"All fours." He panted shoving her onto her side to make her go faster. She scrambled to all fours quickly. "Hold onto the bars." She did as she was told. "Hold on." He grabbed her hips from behind again and slid back inside her tight pussy. "Fuck Genie."

"Yes please" he rammed into her, forgetting himself and giving her the pounding of her life, super strength released into every thrust. Gaia's eyes almost bugged out of her head at first, feeling the pain of each thrust. But her body rapidly healed itself, and she quickly accommodated his furious pace and power. If anything, she'd never felt as much pleasure with any man in her life. She screamed in pleasure, gripping the bars desperately and pushing her pelvis to meet his as often as she could. But he was going too fast for her body to process the pleasure and move against him as well. Her second orgasm rocketed through her like an explosion of pleasure. And this time, the feel of her clenching at his cock and writhing all over was too much for Superman. He strangled a moan in his throat and his thrusts became ragged. He came inside her and felt his own slice of euphoria, almost sobbing with it. he pumped into her a few more times before his body shook with exhaustion. It was then he realised he was exhausted. Wait...he was never exhausted afterwards...unless

"Genie! Are you alright? Did I hurt you?!" He pulled out and turned her over, cupping her face and looking intently into her eyes. they were misty with satisfaction and she was smirking like the cat that got the cream.

"I have never felt better in my entire life." She giggled and reached up to touch his cheek. He sighed with relief. He'd used his full strength against her. How she wasn't hurt or screaming at him, he didn't know. "Honey, I need your number. We're doing this again." She giggled and stretched happily before him on the bed, reminding him of a kitten. "And again. And again. If that's alright with you of course?" she winked at him. Clark sighed with relief and smiled.

He hadn't set off that night with the intention of bedding his recruit, or letting Superman fuck her. if he'd have hurt her, he would have never forgiven himself.

"I'd like that." he smiled and lowered himself to lay by her side.

"Oh you didn't?!" She pushed up on her elbows and stared at her chest. Clark followed her gaze to the large purple hicky between her breasts.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't really think about it."

"I see." She laughed and dropped herself back to the bed. "Well. That was amazing, but I will need more than tonight to be ready for another round." She turned her head to smile up at him, to catch him looking at her with worry. "Hay. That's a good thing." He perked up. "That's perfectly normal when your partner has an anaconda for a cock." Clark blushed madly and looked away from her. "You are so cute Clark. I feel like I won the man lottery or something." He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her.

"It's late. Want to watch TV for a while and sleep?"

"You know what Clark?" Gaia pushed up against him and snuggled into his side. "That sounds fantastic." Most men wanted her to leave straight afterwards. She never got to have cuddles afterwards.

"Great." His smile shone down at her, and he reached for the remote. On came the new channel, then the cartoon channel, then the movie channel. "Not much on."

"I don't mind what we watch." Gaia smiled tenderly at him, resting her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. "I could watch anything with you." She then blushed, realised how corny that sounded.

"Me too." He chuckled, and put the loony tunes on. "So is this alright?" Gaia blinked at the screen a few times, seeing Bugs bunny and Daffy duck bouncing around the screen. She then giggled and snuggled against him.

"That's great."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter

Breakfast the following morning was very different to the day before.

Vivian scanned the table with her worried brown orbs though her red X eye mask. She tucked her ginger locks behind her ears and tried not to let the sorry tide of emotions drown her.

After the attack at the club the 'Justice Sisters' were hurried in to the halls of justice, made to get into their usual uniforms and report to their mentors. Their statements were taken and then they were sent to bed. The anticlimactic nature of the inquiry worried them more than anything else.

Mystic X remembered how J'onn said nothing. He simply listened to what she had to say, entered her mind and watched her memories. He then told her she could leave in such a monotone voice, she was shell shocked. He then forbid her from leaving the halls without his permission, and walked through the wall.

Batman laid into Shade with his true dark knight style. She was a good little soldier, sitting there, taking everything he threw at her and agreeing with him. When she asked if she should go and get Agramon for him, he snapped that he'd already debriefed her, and she should get back to her room. He then called in Luna, and grilled her until she was well done and practically on fire. She moaned that it should be Superman that debriefed her, and she didn't get why he was missing. Batman continued without acknowledging that she was indeed right, he should be here. The dark knight will be having words with his bullet proof friend...

Luna left the briefing room blowing steam through her nostrils, snarling that it wasn't her damn fault that the villains turned up. It's not like she gave them a personal invitation to come and trash the place.

The Flash had been very patient. He congratulated Miss Swift on her fancy footwork and told her she did good. He then asked her with a kind smile to run him through everything that happened, no pun intended. He tried to keep it light hearted by saying she should have invited him to the party, as had some cool moves on the dance floor he'd have shown her, then proceeded to do some overly humorous chicken moves.

It didn't do any good. She just stared at him blankly. She recanted the events as quickly as she could and stormed out. Flash had been really understanding, but she just didn't want to hear it. She'd frozen. She'd been scared out of her mind and run for the hills. Miss swift was supposed to be a bad ass. Instead, she was a scared little girl that needed protecting. She didn't protect her friends, she didn't kick ass...not like Agramon.

Vivian looked around her friends again, seeing them looking very sorry for themselves. Luna and Miss Swift were fuming, Agramon was close to tears, Shade didn't give a shit and sulked, she was anxious as she didn't know if J'onn was going to punish her or not, and they all narrowed their eyes on Gaia when she finally strolled in.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Miss swift rounded on her first.

"Huh?"

"We've been worried sick and you've been on your fucking jollies giving your slutty end away, and you stroll on in here like a laid piece of ass, and look at us like that and all you have to say for your sorry self is huh?!" Gaia took a step backwards and blanched at the rest of the table.

"What did I do?" She was back in her own evergreen skin and usual hanging skirt outfit.

"We were attacked at that club after you left. It's alright, we're all feeling insignificant and diminished by our mentors over it." Vivian filled the clueless Nymph in.

"I'm not." Shade shrugged, her chin on one fist, the elbow on the table, and the other hand was making the shadow of her empty cereal bowl dance.

"Why should we be? We've been training for like a month, tops. Why the hell should we be battle ready now?" Miss Swift kicked the table with her red booties and snarled down at her coffee. "No one should expect us to be ready now."

Gaia sat herself next to Vivian, and looked at her desperately.

"Let me fill you in."

* * *

"...the Lex Luthor, Penguin, Joker and Harley?!"

"Yup."

"How did you get away?!" Gaia looked around the table, seeing her friend's mood remain dark and sharp all over.

"Our mentors saved our pathetic little asses." Miss Swift zipped to her feet and hissed. "Like fucking weak children. Well, never again." She glared at everyone around the table. "I'm going to train every minute of every fucking day until every mother fucker in this damn city fears an ass-woopin' from Miss Swift."

"And her friends!" Luna jumped to her feet and fist pumped the air.

"Yeah, all of us." Agramon also rose to her feet, her wings opening behind her. "None of my friends will ever be in danger like that again."

Vivian watched as the moral of the Justice Sisters slowly started to pick itself up off the floor, dust itself off, and get back to work.

"And I'll never chase booty whilst we're out again." Gaia nodded, trying to get Miss Swift to forgive her absence. "No matter how ripped it is."

"...ripped huh?" the African speedster's eyebrow arched and her lips curved in a curious smirk. "I'll forgive you if you give me details. After all, those crazy ass motherfuckers descended on our asses before I could get me a taste."

"Want all the details?" Gaia beamed a smile and hooked her quick footed-quick witted friend.

"Start with the size of his junk."

* * *

By the end of Gaia's debrief every woman around the table was blushing and feeling even more sexually frustrated than they were before! The nymph really had no shame, and Miss Swift couldn't stop herself from giving the woman a high five. "Damn woman, I can't even remember why I was mad at you. we have to go on the pull together next time. I'm serious."

"Oh, I might not need to go on the pull anymore." Gaia held up a piece of note paper with scruffy handwriting on it. "I have his address and his number.

"You secured yourself a fuck buddy?" Luna bounced in her seat and dropped her chin onto her fists. "I'm so jealous. It's been 3 years since I last had sex."

"Really?" Miss Swift snickered, her braids flicking with the movement of her head. "No wonder you're so highly strong woman. You need to get laid."

"6." Shade volunteered, signing sadly as she bit into a ham sandwich.

"6...months?" The Speedster asked, everyone staring at the Shadow master. Shade wasn't exactly social. The theory was she would shrivel up if she was too social, and mainly stayed with the group through her glue like loyalty to Agramon. The fact she was taking part in a conversation about sex, was a little strange to say the least.

"Years." She sighed again, and chomped her sandwich.

"Oh my goodness do you need healing?!" Gaia got to her feet, looking ready to launch herself at the poor shadow-ster, which would have resulted in a firm back hand, but was halted by Luna's hands on her shoulders.

"No, she's human. Only Nymphs need sex to live. Or at least, to keep their powers."

"And sanity." Gaia added, and started to play with a lock of her evergreen hair nervously. "You poor girl. We need to get you to a man quickly."

"Seriously?" Shade looked from Gaia to Agramon, who was blushing awkwardly. "I'm now going to be thrust upon a man because I've focused on my career rather than getting a piece of ass?" she elbowed the Demoness when she just shrugged at her. "Why do I subject myself to this group of crazies again?"

"Because you're friends with Agramon, and she's part of a set!" Luna jumped to her feet and threw her hands up into the air. "You will be one of us one day!" the witch giggled, her raven pigtails bouncing with the movement.

"Sit down woman." Miss Swift reached over Gaia and yanked the woman back to her seat. "Making the place look untidy. Now I'll share since you all have. 7 months."

"That's not too bad." Gaia took the speedster's hand reassuringly, like you were talking to a patient. "It was six months for me before last night."

"Yeah yeah, gloat!" Miss Swift then eyed up Agramon and Vivian who were sharing looks. "Hay, we're sharing our shit over here. Do feel free to join in."

"Oh, d-do we have to?" Agramon held her elbows and her wings hung onto her shoulders.

"Yeah, look, you can't be much worse than 6 years, right?" the women giggled together, until Luna caught the look Agramon was wearing.

"Oh." The witch waved her hand and blue jelly appeared in front of everyone. "Jelly anyone?"

"Sure." Shade had finished her sandwich, and dug into the jiggling blue dessert. "Strawberry...but it's blue...ah well."

"I'm a virgin." Agramon snapped her head to the side, looking at the redhead. "Lived on the streets since I was 12 so I never really turned any heads." She took the demon's hand and nodded to her. Agramon suddenly felt like it would be ok to share too.

"Me too. I've always looked like this, and lived on the street. I've actually enjoyed wearing girly clothes and dancing and..." the table was looking at the psychic and Demoness with sad eyes. Even Miss Swift looked ready to give her a cuddle. Until she smirked.

"You pulled." The African beauty pointed at the demon, making her fluster madly. "Remember the dark and handsome guy you were swaying on the dance floor with? Dressed as Zorro?"

"Oh yeah!" Luna piped up and clapped her hands together. "He dived in and kissed you before the club burst with villains."

"Really?" Shade turned and raised a blonde brow at her partner. "You smooched with a tall dark stranger? You didn't put that in your debrief, did you?" Shade tried to imagine their mentor's face if she had. It made her giggle.

"N-no! Of course not." Agramon ran a clawed hand through her thick black hair and traced one of her curved horns.

"Did you get his number?" Gaia reached over the table and took her hand in hers. "So you can arrange becoming deflowered by this man?"

"Why do I get the strange feeling that every conversation we have with you results in sex?!" Even Mystic X giggled at her demonic friend then.

"Honey." The soft Scottish tones of the nymph calmed her. "There is nothing wrong with sex. Sex is good for you."

At this moment Flash, Superman and Batman walked over to the table to give their recruits their assignments. Just as Superman was going to speak up, Flash put his hands on his elder JL heavy hitter's mouths.

"Damn straight it is." Miss Swift added. "Sorts a girl out."

"You can never have too much of a good thing." Luna added.

"Well." Miss Swift turned to look at the witch critically. "You can have too much sex."

"No you can't." Gaia released her traumatised friend and challenged the speedster. No one had noticed the veteran heroes stood behind the table.

"Yes you can. My last boyfriend gave me a seeing to 3 times a day. MMmmm it was good. However, even with all the lube, I had to see the doctor. See, I got friction burns on my-"

"GOOD MORNING!" Vivian jumped to her feet and practically shouted at the three mentors. If she wasn't so distracted she'd have heard their thoughts earlier. "G-good morning." She cleared her throat and forgot to sit back down.

"Morning." Flash chuckled nervously, lowering his yellow gloved hands to his hips. "Well, we've come with some assignments so-" Miss Swift zipped over the table and jerked to a stop in front of her mentor.

"I'm willing to overlook the eavesdropping if you have something hard core for me." He blinked at her. Innuendo was begging to leap from his lips, and danced in his eyes. "I need to get stronger, faster, and become a badass. Like right now." She folded her arms over her red and black replica of his costume and nodded at him with purpose. Flash gulped and looked to Batman in such a way, his eyes said 'save me before I say/do something stupid'.

"There will be an assembly in the great hall at 1pm today."

"Are we at school again?" Luna giggled across the table, and was rewarded with a grin from Shade.

"No, despite the childish behaviour of some of our recruits..." Luna bolted stiff. She almost thought Batman had developed sneaky psychic powers like Mystic X, but realised he was stood right behind her...just regular old hearing then... "...so make sure you are on time."

"What's it about?" The table stared at the guile of Miss Swift, zipping in front of the dark crusader to prevent his exit. "We aren't training today, so it can't be about that. or is it a change to our regime? Or our mentors?"

"Hay!" Flash blurred between his comrades and stood next to his recruit with a pout. "What's wrong with the mentor you have?!"

"Oh sugar, there is so much I could say." She smirked.

"Well don't." Batman interrupted them before the playful bickering could start. He was a very busy man. "Just be there for 1pm."

"Well we have a few hours before then." Miss Swift mock saluted Flash and sashayed over to the head of the table. "All of us, right now, the gym."

"OOo!" Luna positively bounced to her feet and then continued to bounce on her feet. "Come on Justice Sisters! Let operation toughen up begin!"

"You want to?" Shade leaned into her demonic friend and showed here deep in her green eyes, she'd go if she did. "It would be a good opportunity for you and I to spar together."

"Oh sure." Agramon nodded, glad Shade seemed to be making an effort to join the group.

"We'll practise some routines together too." Shade got up, her business face on. "But you need a better name Luna. Operation toughen up sounds shit."

Oh, well, Shade was still Shade at the end of the day.

"Oh...well..." Luna thought absentmindedly, pulling Gaia to her feet at the same time. Everyone made their way over to the gym, their mentors having excused themselves during the squabbling, and Luna suddenly jumped onto Miss Swift's back. "Oooo! What about operation Badass?"

"Hell, has a nice ring to it." the speedster approved.

"Sure. It's an improvement." Shade shrugged, fussing over her blonde bob, making sure her fringe wasn't in the way of her round goggles. They looked like wide spread black tinted ski goggles, but if you were close to her you could see the outline of her eyes. the lenses themselves were huge, but the straps attaching it to her head were thick, but slim line.

The Demoness jumped when her redheaded friend appeared next to her and took one of her clawed hands.

"Can I train with you two? There aren't any other psychics in our group, and I'd like to improve my physical combat moves. With batman as your mentor, I'm sure that is something you're getting quite good at, right?"

"Well, I'm not sure about me being any-"

"She's a great fighter." Shade snapped, like a mother to a naughty child. "She just needs to not take what the Big man said during her briefing to heart. He's an ass. She was fantastic. If she gets her hands on her enemy, they are going to bleed. For sure." The Shadowmaster then glowered at her friend, with a disapproving shake of her head, then looked forward again. "Sure, you can train with us."

"Thank you." Mystic X beamed a smile and gave Agramon's grey hand a gentle squeeze. "Looks like I'm making some more friends too!" she whispered.

"Shade is nice really. She'll just never admit it." the girls nodded to themselves, then scampered forward when the rest of the group entered the gym without them.

"Right, I'm an unstoppable force. I need an immovable object to practise with." She turned and looked to Agramon first, who opened her mouth, only to have Shade appear with her arms folded over her black combat outfit.

"Fine. I'll play. Agramon, warm up the psychic will you?" they all looked at each other with the same question in their heads.

How does a five foot six petite blonde woman in black combats and fancy ski mask, class herself as an immovable object?

"Alright. But er, I won't be going easy on you." Miss Swift actually started grinning, and looking to Luna with that face.

"Alright. But I'll go easy on you." Luna rubbed her hands together with glee. This was going to be good! She exhaled deeply into her hands and produced a tiny little boom box, in the shape of a cute lady bug. The red shell like wings were the speakers. The witch clicked her fingers and Scream and Shout blurted out through the air, so loud the tones vibrated through to their bones.

Miss Swift zipped out into the middle of the gym, and all the girls took their places.

Agramon took to the air. She focused on aerial attacks, and Mystic X focussed on avoiding said attacks. The redhead sensed her friend's thoughts as she got closer, so she couldn't blind side her. she even managed to parry her off a few times.

Most of the time she was booted or slapped around, but as time passed she was getting better at dodging the winged woman.

Luna positively effervesced smoke around her body, and then blew the cloud she generated towards the assault course Superman had left set up. It circled the gym, so other people could train in the centre.

The circuit started to move, as if it was A, daring you to attempt it, and B, tried to stop you if you did. Luna gave Gaia a high five, and yanked the Nymph over to the start. They (Luna in the lead) jumped through loops that randomly spurt into flames, swung from ropes that tried to constrict you, and dodged some hexed lead filled doge balls.

Miss Swift soon realised she shouldn't fuck with Shade. The sharp eyed, sharp tongued blonde stalked towards the speedster and her form bled into darkness. She became a walking shadow.

Now, Miss Swift had seen this before. However, what she hadn't seen was her shadow warrior form. the dark woman's outline rippled like a twig hitting water, and then it bubbled.

Then it grew.

Her limbs became thick and muscular.

Her legs and abdomen elongated, and she grew a second pair of arms.

The long fingers on each of her four hands were tipped with fierce talons.

Her face grew some colour at last. Like ink spilling onto a page it became a white mask, with a black swirl on her forehead. Her eyes were sharp and slanted, with black slits for pupils.

Then a second set of eyes ripples into existence above the other two.

Finally two sets of black horns grew out of the side of her head. The lower pair turned at a right angle and bent downwards. The upper set did the same, but jolted upwards, and they were much larger.

The outlines of this creature were blurred, like it was itself a shadow.

Miss Swift jerked to a stop and dropped her arms and shoulders forward. Her mouth opened and stared up at the 9ft creature (from a safe distance).

**"Unstoppable force."** It's voice hissed in different toned layers, like three different voices were harshly intertwined in one being. **"Meet the immovable object!"**

"Oh shit."


	11. Chapter 11

Meanwhile, behind a very high up two way glass, Flash was jumping up and down and shouting instructions at the pane at the recruits.

"Come one! You're just going to get tired running around. Do something!"

"What are you yelling about?" Wonder Woman walked past the doorway, and saw the Martian Manhunter stoically watching the recruits training together, expressionless as always, and Flash, doing a hyperactive spectator dance.

"Hay Diana, come watch our recruits. Well, not yours. Just the girls." Flash waved his friend over, and she stood next to him and quickly got engrossed with the fight. "Oh damn it!"

"She surely should have ducked then."

"I know! She has super speed, yet doesn't use that to look around her." The original speedster groaned and put his hands on his head in distress. "She's running like she's blind! I've told her time and time again to look around her!"

"Ah, but the large creature is also not making advancements in this battle." Wonder Woman put one hand on her hip, and pointed at the fight with her other hand. "True, she has realised there is no point chasing her opponent as she would surely become fatigued much faster and to no avail. However-"

"She's not getting any closer to her opponent either." Everyone but the Martian Manhunter jumped out of their skin, as Batman appeared next to Wonder Woman. "There is no point conserving her energy if she can't get her hands on the enemy."

The dark night held his chin in thought. He hadn't witnessed this ability of Shade's yet. Clearly this woman was a lot more than she appeared. So far she had favoured the support role to Agramon, and yet she made a pretty good tank herself. Interesting. Perhaps there were limitations with this technique? Maybe this wasn't an everyday battle option for her, thus she favours the long ranged attacks in training.

"I have taken the liberty of contacting the rest of the mentors." The Martian spoke at last, his eyes watching his redheaded recruit carefully the whole time. "This may prove useful for us all."

"Or just fun." Wonder woman added.

"It is pleasing to observe that Mystic X's combat skills have improved, and she is actively trying to push herself against a physically strong opponent." He spoke again. For those who knew him, the fact that the sentence came out in monotone, didn't distract from the fact that he had just given high praise to someone. Using the word 'pleasing' alone was a refreshing change from 'efficient' and 'acceptable'.

"Yes. And it's good to see that Agramon isn't holding back either." Batman watched as the she-demon carried out an array of acrobatic feats in the air, swooping down and spinning around her target. It seems she learnt a new trick from their training session, as she whipped up a small whirlwind around the woman, lifting her into the air and diving down to knock her to the ground.

"Did I miss anything?" Superman jerked to a stop behind the ever growing crowd. He put his hands on the Martian and the dark knight's shoulders and looked over their heads. It was a bonus to be tall sometimes. Well, as tall as J'onn, taller than Batman.

He zoned in with his excellent eyesight on his two recruits. They had just finished his assault course, which he could had sworn was moving, but it was still now.

Then out of nowhere Luna jumped onto her broom and started throwing what looked like fireworks from her finger tips.

At Miss Swift.

The witch had teamed up with the shadow.

"Interesting. Now with Luna aiding her, the two could force Miss Swift into a set direction, then ambush her."

"That's cheating!?" Flash whined and banged his fist against the glass. "Don't let them chase you into a corner!"

"It's sound proof." Batman added, with just a hint of a curve at the corner of his lips.

"GRRR! DAMN IT MISS SWIFT! I swear of that girl keeps running like she's blind and stupid, and gets herself into a corner, I'm going to kick her ass myself!"

The scene played out before them.

"That looks like a corner to me..." Wonder Woman could hardly keep herself from laughing.

"No, she's going to turn. Any second. She'll turn. She'll see the trap coming, and turn."

Hawkgirl and the green lantern skidded into the room with a huff.

"What have we missed? J'onn's been nagging us over and over to get here. We're missing something, right?" Hal jumped up behind Flash and with a green glow, levitated higher to see over his traumatised friend. the winged woman came up behind Wonder Woman and looked over her shoulder, her hands resting on her friend's shoulders.

"What have we missed?" she whispered, and Diana couldn't stop herself from snickering. She turned, just enough to include her friend, but not enough to look away from the fight.

"Miss Swift is about to make a mockery of her mentor by running into a trap."

"Oh goodie."

"No! How could you!?" Flash begged the glass.

Miss Swift was in a corner. "That's it!" with speed that only Superman could match, the flash turned on his heels, and got as far as the door.

Before superman had him by the scruff of his neck.

"Flash! That's cheating, and it won't help your student get any better if you just turn up and fight her battles for her." The Flash groaned, knowing the big man was right, and sulked back to the window pane.

Miss Swift was now in dangling in the air, by her feet, in one pair of Shade's monstrous hands. Luna was flying around her, tying her up in pink rope. It was sound proofed, but you could see from the expression on the speedster's face, and the movement of her lips, she was streaming profanities at her beloved friends.

Then, inches from the glass where the mentors watched, a black figure sped past them, so close, the pane actually rattled.

Like a bat to a moth, Agramon roared, getting everyone in the hall's attention. She swooped down with purpose and Luna didn't hesitate to drop the rope, hold onto her broom tight, and sped off, a demon on her tail. This had provided distraction enough for Mystic X to grab one of the smaller, regular dodge balls, and throw it hard and with brilliant aim.

It hit Shade in the face.

The sudden shock of it made her drop Miss Swift.

In a blur of red, black and pink, the speedster got out of rope and bolted over the redhead.

"YEEESS!" Flash jumped up and down, and looked ready to kiss the glass. They all looked confused, when the redhead clipped the woman upside the head, pointed to the corner, and then seemed to be...telling her off. the speedster looked pissed off, but nodded.

There wasn't much time to chat, however.

Luna and Agramon dived down towards them, missing them by mere seconds. All the time Miss Swift needed to grab the redhead and drag her out of the way.

Oh, and Shade was still here.

The Shadow monster bounded towards them.

"Look! Mystic X is giving Miss Swift instructions."

"Is she?" Flash practically pressed his face to the glass, and grinned at his lantern friend. "What do you know? The mousy girl is the brains of the outfit."

"We'll see." Batman inclined his head. He was actually quite enjoying this.

"This must be hard for you." Superman nudged him with his elbow gently. "You have a recruit on either side. Can't really route either way."

"Well, it must be hard for you too. Since one of your recruits can't be bothered to get involved." He quipped back. Everyone but the dark crusader and the Martian looked around for the Nymph. She was walking around the hall lazily, playing with her hair and stopping every now and then, before continuing.

"Well, she's more medical support than-"

"Sure." Bruce cut him off, gave him a 'I win' look, then returned to the fight.

"Ooo, that was clever." Hawkgirl grinned and jeered with glee.

Mystic X was pulling weapons and equipment off the wall, all blunt and covered in padded plastic of course, and threw them onto the field. She then concentrated, and started barking 'something'.

Conveniently, whenever she did bark 'something', either Shade or Luna would either miss, or get countered and beaten back. Miss Swift was now fighting with a plan. She was looking around, and she was keeping distance between her Shade. The weapons the psychic had thrown onto the floor were very useful. She pelted them towards the larger, stronger foe, beating her down.

As she did this, Mystic X turned to see that Agramon was starting to tire, and Luna was not. After all, she was using a broom to fly, not her own body. The redhead closed her eyes and bowed her head. Luna snapped her head to the psychic, and then away, like she was trying to concentrate on something else.

Like not getting caught by those claws...

As Luna moved around the room, Mystic X turned on the spot and seemed to blindly follow her.

The witch started shouting profusely, and quite comically, waving her fist at the redhead.

Oh, she seemed to be distracted...

Crash.

Agramon bounded along the wall next to the witch, who was distracted, and lunched at her.

The two went tumbling to the floor. Agramon got up first and blinked the world back into her vision. Mystic X was suddenly there, with the pink rope from earlier.

"What a little commander that one is." Wonder Woman giggled, all of them pleasantly surprised by this display. The redhead gave the rope to Agramon, who nodded and tied up the dazed witch.

Then like the cavalry, Agramon took up two large, lead filled dodge balls and forced her exhausted self to the air, nodding again to her friend as she did.

They came to Miss Swift's aid, who seemed to run out of things to throw, or ways to keep Shade away from her. She was thrown full pelt away and into a wall, all the air leaving her lungs as she sank to the floor. Shade stalked towards her, ready to claim the win, when a training staff broke over her back. the creature turned slowly, locating the source of the attack. Mystic X with steady brown eyes dropped the broken staff and waved her hands in the universal 'come and get it' sign. With an amused snarl, Shade started to stalk towards her. She then bolted towards the swinging tyre section of the assault course, the shadow beast hot on her track. In this time Miss Swift got to her feet, and flung herself towards them.

In slow moment, and on bated breath from all the mentors (Batman included) it all came to an end. Mystic X spun on her heels and stood under the gym set, looking at the shadow beast as it reached for her. she seemed to shout 'NOW', and Miss Swift slid at high speed between Shade's feet, skidded back to her feet, grabbed the redhead, and sped out of sight. At that moment Agramon stepped forward, on top of the gym set, and dropped both of the heavy dodge balls on top of Shade.

With a snarl and a huff, the beast fell onto its back.

It then shrank back into the form of a very pissed off, very exhausted petite blonde woman in black combats.

"YYYYEEEEESSSSS!" Flash fisted the air and he, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Hal cheered like your country had won every event at the Olympics. Batman and the Martian Manhunter seemed to smile, just a little bit. "In your face!" Flash turned and pointed at the man of steel and batman. "You little mini me and your super witch just got OWNED!"

"My Demoness was one of the victors, wasn't she?" He was glad no one gave him a look about the 'my Demoness' bit, accepting it was just continuing on with Flash's taunt.

"Well, you so lost." Flash play punched Superman's arm. Well, it could have been a full punch, it would have done about the same to the big man. "One of your recruits didn't even-"

"By the gods!" Wonder Woman was the only one who was still looking at the recruits, who had been patting each other of and laughing about the fight. It appeared that Luna and Shade had something in common. They were sore and sulky losers.

The rest of the mentors turned just in time to see the gym become flooded with...moss? like a gush of water, the thick web like moss erupted and grew rapidly from several points in the room, and covered everything, and everyone inside. Including the window.

Without a second's hesitation, they all out of the watch room, down the stairs, out of the security door (Flash had opened it by the time they had all got down to it) and bolted to the main gym. Superman forced the doors open, seemingly being held in place by the glue like moss, and they all ran in, ready for anything.

What they found were five giggling women submerged and stuck together in a dog pile by the thick moss, only their faces uncovered, and Gaia sat happily on top of them all.

The justice leaguers stared at their recruits in this odd position, and Superman flew into the room and hovered in front of the trainees. He looked hopelessly from the ball of recruits, to a very amused Gaia.

"What?"

"We were training and they got into two teams and kicked the living crap out of each other." She smoothed a hand through her evergreen locks. "They failed to notice me planting surface dwelling moss around them as they fought." She giggled and looked down at the heap of friends she had stuck together. "I simply waited for the opportune time, then with an eruption of my solar energy, I triggered their rapid germination and ensnared everyone." She then slid off the heap, and arched her body with a sexy mewl. The moss trembled, then seemed to go into reverse. All the moss reduced back into tiny little seeds, like cress seeds, but all gathered by her feet. She then picked them all up and put them back into...her hair.

"Oh." Batman actually chuckled at that and yes, in fact, he did smile. But only briefly. "When you were playing with your hair, you were taking out the seeds."

"I'm sorry?" Luna jumped to her feet first, holding her middle and looking very displeased about something. Probably the whooping she just got. "But, how the hell would you know if she was playing with her hair or not?"

"Oh, we have a watch room up there." Superman beamed a smile and pointed high up the wall. "So we can oversee training."

"And what a match it was!" Wonder woman came over and put her hand on Agramon's shoulder and shook it, her motherly nature causing the timid demon to smile as well. "You were all most impressive." She released the heavily breathing demon and went over to Shade. "And you! your other form is magnificent!"

"Oh...well...thanks." Shade then looked desperately for Batman to interject. He just looked at her, and walked over to Mystic X instead. He was however, cut off.

"You performed very well in that battle. You rallied together your team and coordinated their attacks." He stated and nodded his head with approval. You single-handedly turned the tides of the battle."

"Wha-no. No we just winged it." she held her middle nervously. "It was just luck that we-"

"Where as my colleagues were restricted to only being able to watch, and not hear the battle, I was able to hear everything as soon as you thought it." with that, everyone seemed to stop their conversations and listen in. He apparently knew this and didn't care. "You coordinated attacks, and berated your comrade for not being observant on the field. The very thing her mentor was saying behind the glass. Curious...no?"

"What a minute...?!" Mystic X's face burned, and she was quickly affronted by both Flash and Mystic X.

"Did you read our thoughts up there? did you use what we were thinking to improve the fight?" Flash was grinning ear to ear. "That's amazing."

"No, that's terrible!?" thoroughly embarrassed, Miss Swift folded her arms over her bruised chest and scowled. "They were watching all this time, and you said nothin?!"

"No fair!" Luna also joined in the game. You know the one, jump down your friend's through and stomp around game. "I'd have pulled out the big guns if I knew I was being watched?!"

"You should have pulled out the big guns anyway." Shade chided, dusting herself off and chatting to Agramon, getting and giving immediate feedback on the fight. The efficient little fighter she was. "If you treat your training seriously, then you can accurately see how you will perform in the field." She turned to Batman. "Do I have to count that as a defeat if my teammate was clearly holding back?"

"No way!" Miss Swift started bickering with Shade, who just smirked, amused by how easily the woman was wound up. "We kicked your ass, fair and square."

"Not really." Luna mumbled, looking at the very sheepish redhead. "Your team had a psychic on it, tapping into the very experienced minds of the greatest heroes of our time. not exactly fair..."

"And that is why your abilities are incredibly valuable." J'onn rounded up, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You have." He stopped, looking to Superman, who nodded at him. "Pleased me with your performance today." The man of steel cleared his throat at him, with a brow raised. It seemed to two were having their own little conversation. "I am proud. We shall continue to develop your abilities until you are the most valuable member of your team." He then didn't allow anyone (Flash and Superman) to disagree with that statement and departed straight through the floor. Just like that.

"You know." Hawkgirl slowly stepped closer to the Demoness, who seemed to have finally caught her breath. "You had some good moves. In the air I mean."

"Perhaps she could use some more instruction as to better herself as an aerial fighter?" Batman, in that very Batman way he has, appeared from nowhere and joined the conversation.

"You know what?" Hawkgirl folded her arms and gave a very amused and masculine grin at the confused demon. "I was actually thinking the same thing." She pulled a pager from her belt and flipped it open. "Well I'm spending a lot of one on one time with my students, but if you want I could spare a Saturday evening to do a session with you on just that."

"Yes!" Agramon put her hands together and nodded her head frantically. "I would love that."

"Then I'll put it into your training schedule." Batman was also pressing an array of buttons on his pager/PDA. Perhaps he meant he was doing it there and then? "Right, keep up the hard work." Batman nodded, and then turned to discuss something in depth with Shade.

"That means well done, by the way." Hawkgirl smiled at the girl. Everyone else (even J'onn!) had said they were really proud and impressed with their progress so far. It was really a great improvement for the bumbling mess they were when they first came here.

But this was Batman. That was the closest Batman came to 'wow I was really impressed with that, well done'.

"Batman says what he means." She smiled and nodded, as if she was happy with the comment she got. "I'll keep working hard. Then one day, he will say well done and mean it." she then held her ribs and winced.

"Let me look at that." the elder of the winged women lifted the demon's arms out of the way, and saw she had in fact taken quite the beating. With a quick scan of her eyes, she saw they all had, except for Gaia of course. She didn't like the underhanded way she'd just floored them all at the end, but it gets results, then who was she to chide her.

I would if she was my student. She should have fought hard, like her peers!

"I'm fine. I'm looking forward to training with you."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to kicking your ass too." She grinned, in that charming psychotic why she did, and then randomly grabbed her ear. "Now, off to the infirmary with you." she got everyone's attention (probably from the way she was dragging Agramon and how she was squealing about it). "Everyone but the Nymph has taken quite a beating. Go to the infirmary. Now."

"But the meeting at 1!" Mystic X pipped up, but was soon silenced by one look from Wonder Woman.

"Hawkgirl is right. You all need to be seen and cleared by the doctor. You'll just have to wait for the next round of assignments."

"Like hell I will!" Miss Swift hissed. She'd jerked to run literally into the argument, then her ribs told her she wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon, if she still wanted to breathe.

"You are in no state to start your assignments. Your training however was very fruitful, and you should be proud of your achievement." Hawkgirl dragged the Demoness into the middle of the group and nodded. "Follow me then."

"Wait a moment deary." Gaia stopped giggling with Superman, who had been trying to convince the Nymph that although she clearly took everyone by surprise, that trick would only work once, if at all, and they needed to work on another combat strategy for her. "I've got a lot of energy."

"I bet you have." Hawkgirl gave an un-amused look to her bullet proof mentor.

"So I have plenty to share. I will heal everyone here. I only ask that you help carry them back to their rooms afterwards. They will need a moment to gather themselves. Then freshen up for the meeting!" she giggled, and walked over to Agramon first.

Alarm bells went through Batman's head. Oh, he remembered the side effects of this 'healing' process.

"Just as a word of warning this process is highly effective, but cover your eyes, and those being healed will experience hormonal imbalances. For a short period of time." he added, and then gave the room a stern look that prevented anyone from asking questions.

Miss Swift raised a hand, but Flash lowered it with a shake of his head.

"I'll carry Luna." Superman nodded to the witch, who didn't look like she particularly wanted to be carried by anyone.

"I'll carry Agramon." Batman was amazed his voice remained level. Well, Batman wasn't amazed. He was Batman. Batman wasn't fazed by anything. Bruce Wayne, who was clawing at his skin, was fazed by the prospect of seeing that happen again.

"You sure?" Hawkgirl looked at the masked man. "I'm happy to-"

"She isn't heavy." He stood next to her and kept his expression schooled.

"Alright, I'll carry Shade then." Hawkgirl walked over to the bored and battered shadow master.

"I'll carry-"

"I'll walk." Miss Swift cut her mentor off, glaring at him through her aching ribs. She'd taken the biggest beating of all of them, but she'd be damned if she was going to carried back to her room. No-fucking-way.

"You won't be conscious." Gaia walked straight up to her, giggled, then took her hand. "I need to do all of you, all at once." Flash raised a brow, which was caught by Superman. He man of steal stood next to him, and gave him a disapproving look. He then leaned down and whispered into his ear.

"You're going to get us sued for sexual harassment if you think everything a pretty girl says is some sort of sexual reference."

"Ok, Shade, are you coming?" Flash flashed the big man a look, and got a clip upside the head.

"Yeah yeah I'm coming already." Another look, another clip.

"Ok, everyone put your hands on my body, and hold on tight." no look, just an immediate clip.

All of the women put a hand onto the Nymph, holding onto an arm or shoulder. For a moment it looked like she'd just lulled her head forward and switched off.

Then her lips opened.

"Oooooooooooooooh!" she arched her head and body back with the strength of the power flowing through her body. Everyone would have let go, if she didn't start glowing.

Flash looked Superman in the face. The Kryptonian raised his hand to clip him, then looked to the moaning sight of Gaia, pulsing with energy, rippling that energy through the rest of the girls...and then they started to gasp...

He put his hand down.

With a final pulse of energy which caused everyone to look away from the Nymph, she was done.

And so were they. "Catch them!"

Flash of course caught Miss Swift, and lifted her into his arms, bridal style, before anyone else reached their recruit. Superman of course got there second, and held the witch in a similar fashion to the speedster.

Wonder Woman assumed she was carrying Mystic X, and caught her.

Hawkgirl caught Shade and slung her unceremoniously over her shoulder. Batman caught Agramon by the shoulders, and struggled to get her into his arms. In the end, he also had to throw the woman over his shoulder, just to make sure he didn't drag her wings along the floor.

"You ok there?" Superman asked him gingerly. Sometimes the Bat could get touchy about not having a freaky power like the rest of them. Particularly when it came to acts of masculine strength.

"I'm good. I'll see you later." he set off straight away, clearly struggling but not about to admit it.

"I'll come with you then." Gaia giggled and slinked next to the Big man as they took Luna to her room.

It was quick work, getting the recruits to their rooms. It seemed the battle took a lot out of them, as they didn't wake up straight away...not that Batman was disappointed. No. If anything, it was a relief.

Bruce Wayne however...

Gaia stood in the hallway and watched as the mentors dropped off their students. They were in and out pretty quickly, except for Batman and Flash. Batman left before flash, and made of point of checking on Shade through the door, then barking orders to Gaia to watch them.

"Sure thing tall dark and handsome. I'll watch them with both eyes, if you like." She giggled, sexuality dripping from her voice. It amused her to no end when that proved to be a suitable repellent to the dark crusader, who made quick work of getting the hell out of there.

"Right." And he walked off.

"That man...needs to get laid..."

"Hmm?" Flash zipped up next to her and had a genuine 'what was that' smile on his face.

"Oh nothing dear. Just observing the wildlife. You finished tucking Miss Swift into bed?"

"I-no-I was just-"

"You took five minutes." She put her hand on her hip and raised a brow at the speedster. He felt like a boy under her gaze, and chuckled nervously.

"I just took off her boots and put a cool damp towel around them. To make sure they don't swell. Mine do after a real battle, and as a runner the last thing you need is sore feet or blisters." She blinked at him with those deep green eyes.

"And?"

"And I wrote her a note telling her what I'd done and why." He then looked to be about to run off, so she put her hand on his chest and smirked at him.

"And?"

"N-nothing." He stepped back and folded his arms over his chest.

"Oh, I must not have sensed what I did then. Being a Nymph I'm attune to certain...things..."

"Right." Flash grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Later then."

"Yes, I'll see you very soon."

She allowed him to zip away then. She waited until she was sure she was alone, then walked into Miss Swift's room. She sashayed up to the younger speedster and exhaled deeply. Gaia's whole body glimmered, like she had been covered from head to foot with soft pink diamantes. But that was expected. She exhaled again, and slowly an outline of shimmering pink appeared on the slumbering speedster's forehead.

A ghosted outline of thin lips appeared, like they had just been placed there. So faintly, that the mark faded soon after. "Oh yes Mr Flash. I'll be seeing you again, very soon."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter

"We've been sat here for ages."

"I know Luna."

"But it's been like, 20 minutes and they're just talking to themselves."

"Yes Luna." Gaia ran a hand back through her thick green hair, letting it slip like silk threads through her fingers to rest over her shoulders. She had one of her smooth evergreen legs rested over the other, sitting elegantly in her long green handing skirt and a halter neck boob tube. Her amused emerald orbs flickered between the witch and the rest of the room. She couldn't help but giggle at her magical friend. "I can see that too."

"I'm just saying." Luna folded her arms over her chest and huffed. "We were told be here for 1pm. We were here for 1, like everyone else."

"Yes Luna. I remember." She smirked, receiving a cute pout in response.

"And then!" Luna received a good shushing round those around, darkening her mood further. "And then we get here and get put single file into our freaking mentor groups."

"Love you too lass." She couldn't help it. it was in her nature to tease, and Luna was making it far too easy for her. her green eyes flickered down at her friend's outfit. She'd showered and changed like everyone else, but put on a curious outfit. High heeled black boots, with the witchy cuff above her knees, sparkly black leggings, and a red Lolita dress jacket. It was predominantly red, with black lace around the square neckline, and around the edges of the sleeves. It had black ribbon at the back, drawing it into her shape and tying in a large bow. The sleeves were stretchy but fitted to her arms until the elbow, where they flared out. The front of the dress was short to her mid thigh, trimmed with black lace, and the back had a bustle effect with many layers that bounced when she walked. "I do like this outfit you're wearing. More than the others."

"This is my practical witch bitch outfit." She cheered up. You were on for a winner when discussing clothes with Luna. She blinked with big blue eyes at the Nymph. They were lined with black liquid eyeliner and had gentle curved clicks at the edges. Her eyelids were graduated crimson red from the corners, getting paler outwards, and framed in a smokey charcoal shade. Her lips were of course the same shade of ruby red as her dress. Her large pigtails bounced with the change of her mood. They were still exploding from the sides of her head, her fringe curved over her forehead, and the bobbles were pinned in place, and hidden, by thick red and black lace bows.

This woman never did anything in half measure. "I don't want my assignment to be anything where a guy could look up my skirt! That's why I'm wearing black leather look leggings."

"Leather look?" Gaia looked at them again. "But they are sparkling?"

"Well." Luna giggled into her hands. "I might have enchanted them."

"Oh I see." The Nymph looked over their shoulders at the rest of the room. Superman's recruits were at the front, then Hal Jordan's, then Wonder Woman's, then The Martian Manhunter's. Gaia locked eyes with Mystic X, sat on the end of the row by herself. None of the recruits in her group talked to her, and she looked very lonely. She caught the nymph's gaze and put on a happy smile though, waving timidly at her. Gaia nodded at her, smiling, and giving her a significant look.

Are you listening to me? Mystic X nodded, her ginger locks bouncing with the movement. Do you know what the holdup is? She shook her head. Damn, right, I'll let Luna know we have no clue. She's starting to go a little loopy waiting all of 20 minutes. The giggling of her psychic friend was soft, but I reached her ears. talk soon. "I've just asked Mystic X if she knows why we're waiting still, and she doesn't know."

"Oh, so none of the recruits know." The mentors were all discussing something outside. Luna turned in her seat and looked over the hall too. She spotted the large outline of black wings on the back row, which had to be Agramon. She was going to shout and wave to get her attention, when she saw she was in deep conversation with Shade. It seemed they were still discussing battle plans from the training session to improve their performance next time. And by 'they', she meant Shade, with the Demoness nodding and agreeing to everything.

Their attention was jerked to a crash as Miss Swift blurred into their vision.

"I am so bored, and the dude in my group I'm sat next to keeps eyeing me up like he wants a damn beating." She grumbled, arms over her clean red and black Flash suit. Her braids were still a little damp from her shower, but it didn't show on her black costume.

"Well, you were looking him up and down." They jumped, Mystic X suddenly peering round the back of Miss Swift.

"Damn it woman! Psychic people should not just appear like that?!"

"I didn't appear." The redhead held herself around the middle. "I walked up." In truth she was quite lonely with the other 'Martian recruits' and once Miss Swift moved for a chat, she was eager to join them.

The doors then burst open. Storming in came all the members of the justice league.

Oh yes.

ALL the members of the justice league.

Deciding it wasn't worth bolting for their places, Miss Swift grabbed Mystic X and pulled them to sit on Luna's and Gaia's laps. The Nymph quite happily put her arms around the squeaking redhead and whispered something calming in her ear.

Luna playfully bounced Miss swift on her lap, until the weight of the speedster's glare halted her movements.

Down the middle of the hall walked every hero who was an active member, or were affiliated with working with the league.

Batman, The Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan, Hawkgirl, and The Martian Manhunter.

Aquaman, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Zatana, Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, Huntress and so many many more.

Every recruit dropped their jaws and stared.

They had no idea that every idol they'd ever had was going to literally walk in and line up in front of them. There were Green lanterns, there were magic users and shifters alike!

All the recruits were humbled in their presence, and even Luna didn't mind waiting for them to get started now. she held onto Miss Swift nervously in fact.

Batman took the podium, clearly having taken charge of the recruit program as his newest project. He then pressed the touch screen on it, and a large copy of what he saw was project on the back wall of the hall.

The hall of justice was full of heroes and Batman almost wanted to smile at the terrified look in the recruits eyes. good. They knew this was serious.

"You have all been summoned here today as you have all had and passed basic training. At that there was surprised chatter between the recruits, clearly not having expected that they had even been assessed yet! "Now it is time to hand out your assignments as the junior section of the Justice league." They gulped and dropped back into awed silence. "You will now be in charge of your own training hours. If you wish to book a training session with your mentor, it will be on you to arrange that at our convenience." He lowered his tone, making it clear they were not going to go out of their way. "What you will have is a patrol." Excited chatter built up, then fizzled out as the dark knight glared it out of them. "It will be mandatory and nonnegotiable. You will start with a patrol once a week, then your partner will assess you, and we will manage your performance from there." he cleared his throat. "The idea is that all of you...will be paired up with one of us."

Oh, nothing could have stopped the chatter then. Everyone in the justice league shared a look with the person next to them. Some with amusement, some with excitement, and some with dread. "The person you are paired up with is nonnegotiable, and that person will assess your performance in the field. They will feed that information back to your mentor, unless they are your mentor, and then your hours will be increased or fixed and so on and so forth."

He then looked around the room, and took secret pleasure in the nervous, anxious, teetering on the edge of the seats look they all shared.

All of them.

They all had different powers, backgrounds, races, faiths, and creeds. But they were all reduced to the mentality of a nervous and ecstatic 7 year old.

"The easiest way to this was to input all your assessment data so far into the Watch Tower database, and simulate the best match compared to the hero data we have on all of us." He gestured with his hand to the Justice league heavy hitters. "This in no way was done by preference or by favouritism. Each of us will enter our designated hero name and the name of the recruit that would compliment us, or benefit the most from our training, will appear on the wall." Batman then lowered his eyes to the screen before him. "Like so."

All the recruits moved to the edge of their seats. Batman even tensed as he put in the last letter of his name. He then turned to look at the board and waited.

The database of names appeared on the board. The bizarre thing was, it was rotating the names so quickly you couldn't actually read them.

Then it stopped, highlighted the name, the other names vanished, the selected name enlarged until it was the only thing on the screen. "Agramon, come forward." The dark knight had, like the rest of the hall, stared at the name for a moment. But only a moment. He was Batman, after all. Gotham's child of darkness took a pager from his belt and stepped down from the pedestal.

With a kick from Shade Agramon stumbled from her seat. She stood there, in the isle, meek as she'd looked when she'd first met Batman all those weeks ago.

She jerked as Shade jabbed her arm to get her moving. She flickered her eyes to the front of the room where the rest of her friends all turned and looked at her.

Batman is pleased to have you as his recruit. I heard it in his mind. Be proud Agramon. I am. The she-demon looked to her psychic friend and slowly a smile grew over her grey lips. Her wings lifted from her shoulders and spread majestically behind her. Her form seemed to grow bigger from this movement, as she no longer hunched over as she walked. I was like her mood had been altered within her very core, emanating through her in waves of confidence and calm.

Me, on patrol with Batman. It was a lot different from the rafters of condemned buildings she'd been hiding months before hand.

Batman watched his recruit as she changed from a mouse, to a lioness. Pride rippled through her form, her chin lifting and her wings spreading behind her. Her stance became stronger and her red eyes gleamed with timid excitement. He looked at her wings and resisted the urge to gulp. "Here is your new pager. It is linked directly to mine with GPS. This pager is your life line. Do-not-lose-it."

"I won't." She nodded with a gentle smile. It was gentle, even with the sharp fangs peering through her lips.

"Right, please return to your seat and I'll send you the details of our patrol later."

"Yes sir." She gulped, looking down at the sleek black pager, with a custom yellow bat pattern over the tiny keyboard, and quickly retreated to her seat. Shade gave her the thumbs up, and proceeded to insist that any tips he gave her, she would pass to her as well.

"I'll go next then." Superman typed his name into the pedestal and his dark friend melted into the background of heroes seamlessly. Again the projected screen rolled through the names, and he had to force an awkward smile and turned to the seated recruits. "Luna." The witch shimmied from underneath Miss Swift and sceptically walked over to the man of steel. "Here is your pager and-"

"But we don't have any powers in common?" he blinked at her, clearly agreeing. "I'm a magic user. You're...superman, so-"

"Perhaps the software Batman developed decided you would benefit from something other than training your magic. Something I can provide."

Like some common sense, caution, and someone to hold your leash.

Superman gave her his best boy scout smile, despite the fact she clearly wasn't overjoyed with the match up...neither was he...I really hoped I'd get Gaia. For no particular reason, of course. "Here is your pager. I'll catch up with you later about our patrol."

"Sure thing S-man." The witch returned to her seat, which was now occupied by Miss Swift. Luna shrugged, smoothed the ruffles of her skirt under her backside and sat on the speedster.

"I'll go next then." Flash punched in his name in record time and span on his heels to look on the board. He crossed his fingers and looked at the screen with his best puppy dog eyes.

Miss Swift.

"Oh hell!" she groaned, getting a shocked from many of her fellow recruits. Oh, and her friends pissed themselves laughing at her. "Right." She bolted to the front and saw the massive grin on his face. "Yeah, you got me, I got you, give me the damn pager and I'll catch you later."

"Or I'll catch you?" enter cheesy grin.

Oh no, not the time for jokes.

"Sure thing skippy." She pursed her lips together, swiped the pager off him and returned to her seat in a huff. He kept the grin on his face, but caught Mystic X staring at him with a sad expression.

"Well, that's me done then." Flash walked back to his colleagues and looked off to one side. He'd gotten what he wanted, but clearly she hadn't. He wasn't that bad of a mentor, was he?

Wonder Woman went next and got Gaia. The Nymph was a bit shocked, but casually went to the front to collect her pager. Perhaps it was the whole Greek gods and her being a Nymph thing? She returned to her seat and made sure Mystic X returned to her lap.

It seemed the main mentors were going first, as Hal Jordan was next. He was matched with one of the Martian Manhunter's recruits. A telekinetic fighter called Faze.

Hawkgirl was paired with one of her own recruits. Moth man he was called...due to the-yes you guessed it-massive moth wings erupting from his back and the feelers/antenna curling up from his hair. He was quite cute actually. He looked young, with a short bob of mousy brown hair, and a bright white costume.

"That must be a bitch to clean." Miss Swift leaned into Luna's ear and they shared a snigger as he went past them to collect his pager.

The Martian Manhunter keyed in his name, waited, and waited for the name to appear, just like everyone else.

And just like everyone else, they were shocked to see Mystic X appear on the board.

"This is pleasing. I have many ideas how to progress your abilities in the field further from your training session this morning." He actually walked over to her, handed her a new pager with that same schooled face, then spoke down at her. "I will inform you of our patrol mentally once this sorting has come to its completion."

"TH-thank you." she gulped, clinging to the arms of her nymph friend around her middle.

"There is no need to thank me Mystic X. This was a generated compatibility selection from the software designed by Batman. I had no choice in the matter."

"O..oh. G-good." she chuckled nervously, trying to shield her mind from him then. He inclined his head, sensing the rise of her mental barriers, but didn't challenge it. He returned to the wall of heroes instead.

The girls watched as rest of the justice league waited for the programme to match them with a recruit, and have the same exchange of pager and words.

Over and over again.

What didn't help matters was the fact that Luna pined every time a magical mentor came forward and became pared up with a non magical recruit.

"You know how many people in this room would kill to be paired up with Superman?!" Miss Swift hissed in the witch's ear. "Me being one of them?"

"I wanted a magical mentor." Luna pined, severely sulking on the speedster's lap.

"You clearly need superman more than we do." Gaia reached over and tapped her nose. "Or the programme wouldn't have matched you two up."

"But still!" she huffed, looking down at her feet. "He's so boring. All he ever does is yell at me for using magic. I'm a witch, what else am I going to do?"

"Erm, guys?" Vivian whispered, but somehow got all of their attention. "Superman has superhuman hearing, and you've hurt his feelings."

They all looked to the man of steel, who looked shocked, then looked away.

"Oh hell." Luna folded her arms and closed her eyes, wishing the floor would open up and eat her. "Now I've put my damn foot in my mouth before we've even started. Could you tell him I'm sorry?"

"And she doesn't mean it, she's just a sulking bitch." Miss Swift added.

"Yeah I-wha?" Luna blinked at her friends, who all seemed to roll her eyes at her in unison. Even Mystic X.

"I don't need to tell him. Remember? Superhuman hearing?"

"Shade." They all stopped and looked to the front of the hall. Whilst they'd been distracted they'd not seen which hero had stepped up next.

"Hot damn I want me one of those." Miss Swift shared a lusty look with Gaia, who nodded her approval.

He was in his mid to late 20's, wore a skin tight black suit, combat boots, cloves and an eye mask in the shape of a bat. There was also a dark blue strip covering the middle three fingers of each glove, running up the outside of his arms, covering his shoulders, and then made a thick V shape over his chest and back. this bad boy had messy black hair in a boyishly handsome set of curtains, short but not too short, and a leady killer smile. His blue eyes were hard though. Like he had been through and seen many hardships.

"Oooo, that's Nightwing."

"Who?" Miss Swift nudged Luna in the side, signalling for more info. She didn't look away from the scene as Shade approached her new patrol buddy, but inclined her head towards the interested group of girls. She forgot she was the only one in this little group from Gotham.

"He's Nightwing. He was the first and the original Robin, trained from a kid by Batman. He has his own territory outside of Gotham he prowls. He was the leader of the Teen Titians during his adolescent years, and now he's an adult hunk of a hero, he's a fully fledge member of the Justice League."

"And now he's going to make Shade his bitch." Miss Swift sniggered.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that." Gaia chipped in. "I doubt Shade would be anyone's bitch. If anything, she might eat the poor boy alive. Then again." She giggled behind Mystic X's shoulder. "From the unwilling celibacy smell I'm getting off him, and the pent up sexual need I'm getting from her, who knows who will mount who first?"

Superman cleared his throat in way that let the girls know that that was not an appropriate conversation for them to have. Despite the blush on his cheeks.

Shade stood in front of the man.

"So you're Shade." He handed her a new pager and extended his hand. "I'm Nightwing and-"

"I know who you are, and I get the idea. Brief me on the patrol later?"

"Um, yes." He looked to his empty hand, and retrieved it rather than look a fool.

"Good. I'm not a newbie like some of the others here. I was recruited by Batman as I was crossing his path in Gotham. I've been practising for 3 years, but I do not profess to be a professional of Batman, or even your standard yet."

"Oh, right." He gulped. This woman was going to be intense. So much for a refreshing change from Bruce. "At least you won't experience the stage freight of a baby hero on the street then. In which case I may throw you in the deep end to see your skills for myself."

Ooh, he was not a push over either. Shade bit her tongue and nodded.

"I will see you later then."

"Yes. Shade." He nodded in a very dismissive kind of way. A very Batman kind of way.

"Nightwing." She responded the same way and returned to her seat.

"Well that was intense." Gaia resisted the urge to tremble from the pent up energy she just witnessed.

"Yes. He's not sure what to think of her." Mystic X offered, looking away from Nightwing and to the mini group. "She reminds him of batman, which he feels secure with, but he was hoping for something a little less on edge and to the point all the time."

"You mean fun?" Luna added. Mystic X nodded.

"Is he attracted to her?" Gaia put her hands on the redhead's shoulders, and stared at her with that suggestive smirk, until she girl looked back over to Nightwing.

"I really shouldn't. That's none of my business."

"You didn't hold back before." Miss Swift huffed, wanting the gossip as badly as the other girls.

"Well, I didn't go snooping for that. it just popped out at me." She fumbled on the Nymph's lap. "I can't help that. but looking in his head for his feelings would be wrong."

You're right, it would.

She jerked on Gaia's lap and snapped her eyes over to J'onn, who was staring intently at her.

Up went the mental walls.

Being around him, she was getting better at blocking people out.

"Yeah, my mentor agrees that's not a good idea." She chuckled nervously, turning on Gaia's lap to face her friends and show her mentor her back. not as a sign of disrespect, but as a need to escape his gaze.

"Oooh, sorry honey." Gaia rubbed her back. "We shouldn't ask her to be naughty for us."

"Not when he's in the room." Luna added, and got a high five from Miss Swift.

Over an hour later they were all matched up.

Thank gawd for that, as Luna had huffed so loudly when Lazer, from Superman's group, the guy who shot lazers and nothing else, was teamed up with Doctor Fate.

Freaking Doctor Fate.

She exhaled, said something in a very unnatural tongue, and decided to curl up and go to sleep on Miss Swift and Mystic X's lap (who was still ontop of Gaia). She then rubbed her hands together, and a small puff of smoke covered her in a red blanket.

Oh, it got worse.

She started snoring.

And she didn't stop no matter how hard or how often Miss Swift poked her.

At one point it looked like Superman was going to come over and drag her out himself, but finally, they were all done.

And Luna sprang to her feet with a rejuvenated grin and signalled it was time to leave to eat green jelly.

...to the hall...

"What? You don't like green jelly?" the hall stared in stupefied silence. "Here, have some and see!" she rubbed her hands together, stood with her legs shoulder length apart and blew into her hands hard.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, held a bowl of green jelly and a spoon sticking out of it.

Superman slapped his face with his hand, then decided if the jelly was there, he was going to eat it.

"It's not bad actually."

"Would you go and control your recruit!? Please!?" Batman hushed under his voice, so low only Superman could hear him.

Oh yeah, he was pissed.

"Right." Finishing the bowl as he went, he threw the witch over his shoulder (making sure not to look at Gaia) and flew out of the hall.

The rest of the girly mob collected outside the door as they all filled out.

Before they could heatedly discuss what had just happened to them, they were ambushed.

Batman and Nightwing together.

Luna would have drooled had she been there. Both the Batman stood together...Gaia looked to be mentally drooling for the absent witch.

"Agramon. You're with me."

"N-now?"

"Is there a problem?"

"N-no sir." Agramon gulped, her wings dropping onto her shoulders.

"Good. This way." He stormed off, his cloak billowing behind him in true Batman fashion. At first she didn't move. Then Shade groaned, and pushed her teammate's shoulders.

"That means follow."

"Oh, r-right."

"He doesn't bite you know." Nightwing chuckled, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a big smile. "He may look terrifying, but he's a nice guy really. Underneath. Like, deep underneath. Far far, deep deep down, below many layers of intimidation, he's a nice guy." Agramon relaxed and started to chuckle.

"Look, if anyone should be intimidating here, it should be you!" Shade kicked her ass, literally, forcing her to stumble after her mentor. "You won the mentor lottery, so damn it do me proud Agramon." The demon stumbled, nodded, and saw the dark crusader waiting for her down the corridor.

"I'll tell you how it went later."

"Sure. I'll expect a full brief in the morning." Agramon looked over her winged shoulders at her ice queen of a friend, and saw reassurance in those steely eyes. "You'll do great. No go and scare the shit out of some bad guys."

"Right. You two." She said to the group.

"No fucking doubt about that." Miss Swift added. She flinched, like something unpleasant had jumped down her throat, as the original speedster zipped up next to her.

The demon nodded, looking finally to Mystic X. Their eyes locked, and the gentle tones of the redhead's voice flowed through her mind.

You'll do fine. If I can survive my mentor without shaming myself, so can you.

That apparently was what she needed.

I'm not the only one with a scary mentor. I'll be fine. Mystic X nodded at her, and waved as the Demoness puffed out her chest and walked after the dark knight.

"Right." Nightwing looked cautiously at the blonde. He thought she was being very mean to her friend, before he saw a more in their exchanged looks. They clearly had their own way. "Shade, with me."

"Sure."

"What, no 'yes sir'?" he mocked her, seeing the bored scowl set on her peachy lips.

"You're not Batman."

"So? I've still been practising this whole heroism shindig longer than you have. A lot longer. And I'm a member of the Justice League."

"Wow. They should give you a medal for that." Dick looked at the woman as they marched through the complex to his allocated 'office', as Batman had put it.

"You've got a bit of an attitude on you there."

"So I've been told." She then smirked. "Luckily I don't have to say please and thank you when I'm kicking the shit out of the bad guys. If anything, it wastes time." Nightwing schooled his features like his mentor and groaned internally.

This woman was going to be a pain in the ass, clearly.

"Then let's not waste time and get on with this then." He opened the door for her when they got to his office. She just stood there with her arms folded over her chest and gave him the once over.

"Do you think I can't open a door?"

"What? No I was just-"

"I'm sure you were." She walked inside and dropped herself into a chair. She cracked her neck to one side and pulled out the new pager. "Let me brief you on my abilities and short comings so far." She opened her mouth to continue, but Nightwing had broken out in uncontrollable sniggering. "Is something funny?"

"No, not at all." no matter what I do, where I go, how I change myself, I always come back to Batman. Even my recruit is stone cold serious and sarcastic. Great. "Let's start with your skill sets, then we'll move onto your..."

"Short comings." If she wanted to be straight to business, he knew how to play that dance. Oh bring on the laughs.

Wonder Woman collected Gaia and said their first patrol wouldn't be for three days, so she'd brief her closer to the time.

The Flash didn't say much, still feeling jaded from Miss Swift's earlier reaction to him. He said they would be on patrol tomorrow night, so rest up, warm up with some light training tomorrow, and they would patrol the streets of Metropolis.

"Well that's that then." With Agramon and Shade gone, Luna carted off, Gaia announcing she need to 'recharge', and Miss Swift off to put her feet in ice, Mystic X was alone in the corridor. She slowly made her way back to her room. She'd only lingered to see if her mentor would follow. She peered inside with nervous brown eyes and saw him deep in conversation with Batman.

Once she was back in her room she locked the door behind her and sat in the middle of her bed. She felt safe in these four walls, of this little brown and cream room. She kicked off her red boots and gloves and slipped the red X mask over her head.

A deep breath left her lips and she closed her eyes to process everything she'd learn today. It was interesting that most of her friends had been selected by Batman's software, to match up with their original mentors. Interesting indeed. It was just as she contemplated submitting to a nap, she felt a strong presence touch her mind.

This was still an odd feeling for her, though it was better than the alternative. It became apparent from the first few times that J'onn had entered her mind that although very natural to him (being a telepathic species), it was not so natural to her. She was used to hearing the thoughts of others, but never another psychic. Conversing with another like her felt like there was a buzzing in her head, that became softer and or violent depending on the mood of the psychic. The stronger the psychic, the more of her head that buzzing occupied her head. Or at least, that's how it felt to her. she'd asked him about it once, asking if it felt the same way for him and why it did. He'd explained that although he couldn't peak for every psychic or telepathic being in the universe, he found that the sensation did change depending on the mood of the conversation, and the size of the presence indicated not only strength of the being, but the strength of the connection between the participants.

"For example, your voice inside my mind was very faint when we first met. Now it grows from the size of a faint whisper to soft voice. From the size of a grain of rice to a magpie."

At her request he also 'knocked' before entering her mind, by reaching out and touching it. touch was the only word she could think of to describe the feeling. Like heavy feather tracing her temples, both solid and nothing at the same time. It was a warm sensation, and allowed her to prepare for his immediate communication.

You and I will be on patrol tonight in the Watch tower. We will monitor the world surveillance systems we have, and deploy the teams out to any hot spots of criminal activity, disasters both natural and unnatural.

Vivian nodded to herself on her bed, glad that she wasn't being thrown in the deep end straight away. And to go into the Watchtower, the Watchtower, was quite exciting. The halls of justice was just a front to the public, and now their training base.

The real headquarters of the Justice league orbited the planet like a beacon to the legendary beings that resided there.

I am pleased that you are looking forward to your assignment. I shall collect you from your room at 7pm and we shall be on duty until 3am. Rest now, and be sure to eat well before I collect you.

Yes sir.

She thought that would be the end of it, so she got up and went over to the little kitchenette to make a cup of coffee.

You have shown an aptitude for group coordination and imprinting.

She jerked then, having not expected him to still be in her mind. She continued to make her drink. Having lived on the streets for so long she enjoyed being alone in this little apartment, doing every day things like making a cup of coffee, brushing her hair in front of the mirror, changing her bedding. Getting a shower and drying her hair was her most favourite thing to do in the world. Batman had a coffee machine installed at the on duty station in the tower. You can drink some whilst we watch over the Earth, if you wish.

She clanged the cup down on the counter, startled again. Is my presence in your mind distressing you?

No sir. She poured hot water from the kettle into her cup. This is still new to me and thought you had finished. I do enjoy coffee, and may need the caffeine to stay awake until 3am.

In future you will know when our patrol us due, so you will be able to adjust your sleeping patterns accordingly.

Vivian took her cup of coffee and sat on her bed, sipping it contently. What she didn't realise was she was also sending that feeling of content down her psychic connection to J'onn.

I shall leave your mind now Vivian Harper, and I shall collect you at 7pm.

And like that he was gone from her mind. This time she felt the warmth of his mind leave hers. Just like that.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

This is nice. Vivian thought to herself. She was sat at an enormous consol with so many screens, she wondered absentmindedly how much it cost to set up the command room, and no doubt many other highly equipped stations in the watch tower. They must have a benefactor, or rich members, or make lots of money through donations. She yawned and stretched it off, sipping her 4th coffee that night. Another 40 minutes at her shift would be up, and she would be able to go to bed. At that thought Vivian ran a hand back through her long ginger locks and allowed her tired brown eyes to peer through her red X mask at her mentor. He sat in the chair to her right and watched the screens, unblinking in his blank resolve. She had her mental walls up, so she knew her thoughts were her own, but when she was tired it was harder to keep her defences up. It's not like I feel I need to defend myself against J'onn, but I'm not used to having anyone else hear my thoughts.

She sat back in her chair, actively watching her mentor, watch the screens. Something had been bothering her for a while. That first time they met and he took her off the streets and into his care, he'd entered and reached out to her mind. When she reacted the way she did, and made it clear she didn't like conversing that way, there was something. It had bugged her for the last month and finally she was starting to realise what it was.

Loneliness.

Being a telepath helped you learn little things like where the escape routes are, who's waiting around the corner, and if you're about to walk in on a fight or not. But you also learnt...things you had no business knowing.

Vivian had overheard a conversation between Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, talking about their families. They joked about some of the other members of the Justice league and what their thanks giving's and Christmas holidays must look like. Then The Martian Manhunter had walked past and she'd heard it.

Wonder Woman had thought how sad it was that J'onn had lost his family and his people on Mars in some sort of disaster, and he had been alone ever since. He'd lost a wife and daughter.

It was hard to look at him and not think about that lonely pang she'd felt when he'd pulled out of her mind. Here she was, another telepath, someone he could communicate naturally with, and she goes and freaks out and ruins everything. I wonder if it's like talking to another of his kind when we talk telepathically?

"You are not watching the screens for any sign of trouble." J'onn blinked once, slowly, then turned his blazing orange orbs to look at her. "You could miss something vital and people could die as a result. Please turn your attention back to the screens."

"Oh, sorry." Vivian chuckled nervously and shuffled in her seat to stare at the screen.

Vivian had always been a freak. Her junkie parents had told her so on a daily basis, made her help them break into stores to steal clothes and phones to boost, and beat her if she ever complained or was just 'in the way'. She never felt like she should with her family. The first real family she'd ever known were the other girls in the justice league. here she had a family. Here she was safe. Here she was happy, and here she had grown.

I'd have never known happiness if J'onn hadn't picked me up that day and dragged me off to the diner. She exhaled deeply and cleared her mind as best as she could. She then closed her eyes and tilted her head towards J'onn. Vivian was used to hearing thoughts. All her life she'd used it as a tool to survive. But transmitting her thoughts was another matter. She reached out and brushed her mind against his.

White hot pain. "AHH!" Vivian grabbed her head and writhed in the chair. she didn't stop until J'onn grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"You are alright now Vivian Harper. You should not try to enter my mind like that without warning me first. My defences were up and I automatically attacked you." she was trembling, pulses of her shock rippled through her as she blinked up at him, as if trying to put him back into focus. "Vivian? Vivian!" he barked at her, and shook her again.

"I'm ok! I'm ok, I'm ok." She exhaled choppily and put her hands up, showing she wanted him to stop shaking her. he took his hands back and looked deep into her eyes. "I wasn't trying to enter your mind. I was trying to do that touch thing that you do. T-to start a conversation." She held her forehead with one hand, and her chest with the other. "I just wanted to talk."

"We were already talking Vivian Harper. Why would you need the use telepathy to speak to me?"

"N-never mind. It was a stupid idea anyway." Her head hurt, but she needed to put her mental barriers up before he decided he wasn't satisfied with her answer and find out for himself. She steadied her breathing and calmed her nerves. Her mental walls went up, and now she had to focus even harder to keep them up.

They both stared at the screens in an awkward silence.

That's what I get for trying to do something out of my comfort zone. I'm such an idiot. I shouldn't have tried to talk to him mentally. Now he probably thinks I'm incompetent or something. Well...more so than usual. She took a sip of her coffee, sighing when she realised it had just gone over the threshold of luke warm to cold. She flashed her brown eyes onto the clock and saw she had another...37 minutes. Great.

Vivian bristled in her chair when she felt him touch her mind gently. Her mental barriers were so thin, the touch almost pushed straight through them. Whatever that mental attack was, it had thrown her for six. There was no way she could hold a conversation with him and keep any privacy now. "I'm sorry J'onn. I'm pretty worn out now. Can we talk out loud for a bit?" when he didn't answer she turned to look at him. for a moment, and only a moment, there was a flash of sadness across his dominant brow, but his features became stoic once more and he turned to stare at the screen again.

"If you wish to converse with me again, lower your walls and think your request. Regardless of proximity or distance, I will respond. Reaching out to my mind will only result in-"

"Immense ear splitting, eye numbing pain. Yeah, learnt that the hard way. I won't be trying that again." She didn't look, but she saw him turn his head to look at her. she didn't dare look. For some reason eye contact made her resolve weaker against him, and low resolve equals low mental defences.

"...it was not my intention to harm you Vivian Harper. It is a natural defence. One I will in time teach you to have as well."

"Oh, I'm not sure I'll ever be strong enough to do...whatever that was to someone without meaning to do it." he returned to looking at the screens.

"...you underestimate yourself Vivian. That time is not as far away as you think it is. One day you will be strong enough to touch my mind without triggering my defences." She couldn't help it. She was so tired, so drained, defences slipped for just a moment. Just as she thought –I don't underestimate myself, I'm just not stupid enough to try touching your mind again. Even if I just wanted to do something nice for you, it's not worth the risk. She groaned, registering that her walls had faltered, and gripped the arms of her chair, concentrating with all she was to put the walls back up again.

"Sorry."

"Do not apologise for something you mean." There was an edge to his voice. Something she'd heard in Batman's voice a few times. A pissed off edge, without a particular target. "Like I said, had I known you were going to try and commune with me I would have lowered my-"

"I'm sorry J'onn, I just-"

"Why were you thinking of my wife?"

Floored. Her mental walls started to wobble, so she gripped her knees this time and closed her eyes. focus focus focus, stay strong, keep the walls up. I'm tired and that attack drained me, but I can't let slip now. ok, the image of what she'd seen from Wonder Woman appeared in her mind as she thought, 'I just wanted to do something nice for you', so J'onn must have seen that too. "Vivian? Why were you thinking of my Wife?"

"You have surely heard and seen things you had no right or intention of learning? Well, I learnt about you a little bit. I didn't mean to."

"I see." He seemed to sink into the chair slightly, before turning in it to face her. "So when you said that you wanted to do something nice for me...you meant converse with me as my kind do?"

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again." Her eyes were still closed. She didn't dare open them. "I honestly meant no insult, I-" she squealed. His mind touched hers again, but this time it really was too much for her and her walls collapsed in her mind.

Vivian Harper, I am honoured that-

She jumped out of her chair and held her head. With no defences at all, he could hear or see anything.

You know when someone tells you not to think of an elephant? What's the first thing you think of? Yeah, an elephant.

Every part of her sordid past, all her low moments, all her darkest thoughts and shameful acts came bubbling to the surface. He was seeing them all...

She couldn't make it stop. she felt him watch her memories, felt his pity and remorse. She cried out and pushed him off his chair.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" it was too late. He's seen everything...everything...

A young teenager pulling rotten meat out of a dumpster to eat, take a beating over a day old hot dog, on her knees in an alley...earning her protection the only way she could...

No defences. No restraint. No strength.

She threw herself from the console and her mentor, and ran outright for the transport rooms. She knew he'd still have access to her mind without even trying within a certain proximity. She had to escape. Run away and regroup somewhere. Somewhere alone and dark...

Vivian skidded to a stop in the transport room, trembling with the power of her grief, she gripped onto the control station for strength, blinking through her tears and try and figure out how to operate the controls.

...they weren't even in English...whatever language there were in, she had no idea how to beam herself back to the headquarters. She'd be more likely of zipping her body out into space and suffocating than actually getting herself down to earth. This realisation washed over her in a cold wave and knocked her to her knees. She held herself and wept, knowing if she couldn't escape, he'd no doubt come and-

Heavy footsteps came through the doorway and blue boots came into view through her messy ginger locks. She sobbed harder, knowing how pathetic she looked.

Oh God don't let him look at me. I was so stupid. So very stupid. I should never have tried to reach out. I shouldn't have tried. I shouldn't have come here. I've ruined everything. She thought of that safe haven she'd been given at the halls of justice on earth. Her own room. A door that locked. A warm bed and no leaky roof. No getting stabbed or molested in the night. square meals a day and a shower whenever she wanted one. I've ruined it all. How could I be so stupid?!

"Stop that." His voice boomed down at her. J'onn knelt before her and grabbed her shoulders, tearing her from her curled up position and forcing her to face him through her coppery locks. "I swore I would train you and care for your wellbeing. I would not throw you back to the streets because you tried to make me feel comfortable and it backfired. That was very kind of you to even try." She didn't believe him. He sensed this and shook her again. "I saw nothing just now that I didn't already know about you Vivian." She finally looked at his face. He looked so angry. His jaw was tense and there was a vein on his neck that seemed to be throbbing beneath the surface of his thick green skin. "The first moment we met Vivian, I saw all of you." She narrowed her eyes on his gaze, and thought of how she earned her keep on the streets of Gotham. "Yes. I knew that as well." He seemed to struggle to swallow something and sighed. "I hadn't realised you're defences had suffered so from my mental rebuff. Or I wouldn't have pushed to enter your mind." He released her shoulders and slowly put them on his knees. She reminded him of a samurai, knelt like that. "I have wronged your twice now. I was...pleased that you wished to converse with me. I just wanted..."

He sighed. She was right, he did enjoy conversing mentally. That was how his kind naturally spoke to one another. Not with simple sounds, but senses, pulses, colours and feelings. He had missed it more than he knew, and the emotional side of telepathy hadn't been there with any of the other telepaths he'd met on this planet. But Vivian was full of emotion. Every note of her mind was a song of colour. When she said she'd never try that again, he couldn't bare it. he ignored her plea for him to stop, and pushed into her mind anyway. "I wanted to converse with you. to teach you how to really speak." He sighed. "I didn't mean to make you panic and fall into despair. I can only ask for your forgiveness Vivian."

"You...Know...everything...?" he flicked his blazing eyes up to her watery ones and nodded. "You never said..."

"Who you were shaped you on your arrival to the halls of justice, who you are now is a very different person. Your mind has changed a great deal since you walked into your audition. And...as you seemingly know...most of the people who come to greatness, have had their fair share of tragedy on their way." He held a hand out for her. "I will not try to enter your mind. You need to rest, so I'll take you back to your room, and I want you to get some sleep. There is no need to fear being turned away from this order, or my training. If you run, I will come and find you Vivian Harper."

"I'm so sorry." She whimpered and put her hands on her face, bowing over her lap as she wept. "I shouldn't have been so stupid. I should have told you what I was thinking of doing. I shouldn't have just-"

"I am unsure how to appropriately comfort you other than reassure you that I am not upset with you, or angry. I should in fact be asking for your forgiveness for hurting you twice." She sniffled and peered at him over her hands.

"of course I forgive you J'onn. It's not your fault I'm too weak to touch your mind or protect my thoughts."

"In a way, it is." He realised distracting her was working, so he went with it. "I'm supposed to be making your mind stronger. I've been trying to get you combat ready, without building your mental strength first...perhaps this has been a beneficial experience." Vivian wiped her face and blinked up at him. He rose to his feet and offered her a hand. She took it and allowed her mentor to pull her up to her feet. Weak from her ordeal she stumbled forward into his chest. "I will focus our sessions into building your mental defences, and perhaps help you to develop an innate defence of your own. For now I think we can call our patrol finished for tonight. Come, I'll take you back to the halls."

She sniffled and nodded, letting him guide her into position, watching him operate the controls and then stand behind her. J'onn put his hands on her shoulders and counted down the sequence. They materialised in the transport room back on earth, and he wished her goodnight. Vivian nodded, said nothing, and walked back to the sanctuary of her room. She locked the door behind her, peeled out of her clothing and left them on the floor. She got into bed and hid under the covers. The last little bit of energy she had failed her, and finally she was able to lower her mental walls and give in to sleep.

I'll figure out how to make it up to J'onn tomorrow...

It was that time again in the justice league. Breakfast time in the mess hall. Where all the heavy hitters and recruits dragged themselves into the hall and topped up their calorie and caffeine levels for the next day of hard labour. At the very back of the hall, closest to the serving stations and the exit, was the head table. This is where Nightwing was headed, and when he arrived there he took a seat between the Green Lantern and the Flash.

"Hay there boy wonder." Hal teased him, as he usually did, and received an icy glare for his efforts. "OOoo, what's with the bitch-man stare?"

"You know." He ground out and reached for the large pot of coffee in the middle of the table. Flash handed him a clean mug, and he muttered his thanks as he poured himself a cup. "Damn, last night." He groaned and nursed his warm cup between his hands. "That recruit is going to kill me."

"I'll say." Flash sniggered and poured milk over his chocolate speedy-o's. "I thought she was going to headbutt you when handed her new pager over."

"Yeah...that woman doesn't play nice with others." Dick rolled his shoulders. "She throws her fists around without thinking where her team mates are. Twice she gave me her right hook by mistake last night." the other two mentors sniggered at him. Nightwing of course responded by brooding into his coffee. "Not funny. She has a mean right hook."

"Got into trouble last night then?" Nightwing looked up and smiled at his old mentor, and shrugged.

"Well, we bumped into a few of Two-face's goons robbing a jewellery store last night. So no, no trouble at all." Batman deftly took his seat, making sure not to sit on his cape as he did so, and poured himself a coffee. "You?"

"No. I didn't take Agramon on patrol last night. I trained her in hand to hand combat in the gym for a few hours then sent her to rest up." The dark knight sipped his coffee and opened the morning paper on the table.

"She looks like a handful." Dick offered. Flash and Hal just watched and listened. Batman wasn't one for conversation that wasn't urgent and business related. Yet he always had time for small talk with his old side kick. "Agramon wasn't it?"

"Yes. She isn't a handful." Batman turned the page of his paper. "She is very obedient and eager to improve herself."

"Ah, I see." The younger bat man chuckled. "Obedient huh? You must love that."

"Like I said. Not a handful." Steely blue eyes locked onto the baby blues of his charge. "Not at all like you were. You were a pain in the ass."

"Of course." He chuckled and realised that Flash and Hal were holding their hands over their chests and batting their eyes mockingly at him. "What?"

"Oh it's just so sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!" Flash zipped up to his feet and held Hal's hands. "getting to see a glimpse into the softer side of the B-man is just-"

"A rare, unthinkable, miracle and yet there is a daddy figure under all that leather!" Hal joined in, and the room seemed to get a shade colder...

Batman was giving them his high beam glare, which magically caused the men to separate, return to their seats, and change the conversation. "So, hot weather we're having, huh?"

"Yeah. Hot. Makes my boots smell after all that running at the end of the day." Seemingly convinced that they had backed away from the conversation, Batman returned to scanning his eyes over the paper.

"Good morning!" in came captain chipper, who never seemed to get tired or cranky in the mornings. He sat next to Batman, also incapable of sensing the hostility coming from the man (or not caring) and even leaned over to look at his paper with him. "Oh, I read this story this morning. The Cocobana club has been shut down for a while."

"Oh really Big guy?" Flash flicked a speedy-o at the man of steel, which was caught in a blur of Superman's hand, and chuckled at himself. "I wonder why that is?" Clark just rolled his baby blues at the speedster and flicked the o back at him. it was also caught, then placed on the table next to the bowl. "Could it have something to do with our female recruits running away from the big baddies that were playing poker upstairs?"

"Shut up Flash." The table chorused and caused the speedster to grin even more. But he didn't push it. well...much... "How these guys keep buying real estate without someone going, huh, you're a suspected crime lord aren't you Mr Luthor? maybe I shouldn't sell you this night club..."

"What's that about Luthor?" Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl sat at the end of the table with a bacon and sausage sandwich for breakfast.

"Nothing." Superman sighed and poured himself a glass of water. Caffeine didn't affect him like it did the others, so water was find by him. "So how was everyone's patrols last night?" they all grumbled incoherently (except for Batman). "Erm...ok. anyone take out their recruits?"

"Yeah. got a lot of work to do with Shade. Her special awareness sucks. You?" Superman smiled at the tether of hope of a civil conversation and chugged his water quickly, leaning on his elbows and giving Nightwing his full attention.

"I took out Luna. She can fly alright, but she's not a speed flyer. She's limited by the power of her broom I suppose. I just wish she'd not get so frustrated when there isn't any crime. That's a good thing." He shrugged.

"Damn, I can't wait to take Miss Swift out on the streets of Central city. She can keep up with my pace, and I can tell she's itching for some action too." Flash joined in. "We hit the streets tonight actually." He grinned. "Maybe I'll take her to Jim's Burger Barn after our shift..."

"No." Batman finally contributed to the conversation, but didn't look up from his paper. He just turned the page and continued reading.

"But!"

"No. You are to take her on patrol, then return her to the halls."

"Jeez B-man, it's just a burger." Flash sulked. Images of them making vampire fangs out of fries and racing each other for a brain freeze on their famous strawberry slushies went down the drain.

"No."

"Fine!" he grumbled.

Superman looked around the table and sighed. He knew why Batman was being an ass with Flash about something as innocent as going out for food after a patrol, but Flash very clearly liked Miss Swift in more ways than her performance as a hero so far. He was at more of a risk at stepping over than thin line of what was and what was not appropriate for a mentor to-

"OH fuck! Yes! m-more Clark! Oh fuck yes!"

Clark blushed and busied his hands by pouring himself another cup of water. He was already guilty of going too far with one of his recruits, and she didn't even know it. With the way Bruce looked at him, Clark was sure he knew just what happened when they left the club that night. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation with the dark knight, when he decided to question him on it...

The sound of something vibrating and beeping distracted the table, and made a blush rise to Superman's cheeks. He pulled his personal pager from his belt and held it so none of the others could scan their eyes over the message.

Good Morning Sweetie. It's me, Genie. I hope you remember the wonderful night we shared and remember giving me your number. I'm not working today, are you? Maybe we could meet up for...whatever you like cowboy.

Clark gulped. She already had a nickname for him, based on the costume he'd worn.

Don't leave a girl hanging sweetie. If you want to meet, reply. If you want me to leave you alone and it was a one night thing, let me know. No hard feelings. Genie XxX

"Superman, a word?" still blushing Clark pressed the pager to his chest and blinked at the dark night. he nodded, and followed Batman out of the mess hall and round the corner into an empty corridor. "As you know, J'onn and I are in charge of security here at the watch tower, which has had to be increased due to the influx of recruits. So I have their pagers bugged."

"their pagers, right?"

"Gaia just sent that from her pager." Batman rounded on him in a swirl of his dark cape and folded his arms over his chest. His steely eyes were narrowed and sharp on the man of steel. "my spyware identified it as something of interest. So it was forwarded to mine. You do know what you need to reply to that, right?" Clark sighed and looked longingly to his pager.

"I know what I should say."

"Good. A one night thing, no hard feelings, but never again." Batman looked around them once, then put his hand on Superman's drooped shoulder. "You know you can't cross that line. It's bad enough your alter ego got close to her like that. right now she doesn't know it's you. if she ever found out that you knew who she was, slept with her, and didn't tell her she'd not thank you for it. you're her mentor. You can't be more."

"I know." He held the pager with his thumbs primed to type his reply. "It's just...i can really by myself with her. she finds my clumsy goofball nature cute. She watches cartoons with me. And unlike the other women I've tried to be close to, being Superman is something she'd be able to deal with. Physically and emotionally."

"No Clark." Batman whispered, looking around them again. "You know you can't. Listen to yourself man. You hardly know this woman, and your talking about revealing yourself to her? We spend a few hours day training our recruits, take them on patrol. But we don't know them. You spent one, foolish night with this woman. Can you say you know her?"

"I..." Clark turned his sorry face away from his truest friend and closed his eyes. "I'd like to know her. but you're right, of course. We still have to be prepared for any of the recruits turning coat or failing so we can't trust the recruits yet. I know. I just don't like it. I really...really like her." The man of steel returned his gaze to his friend when he heard him sigh.

"I know. One thing you never wish for is how lonely this life can be. You just get used to it. For the good of everyone."

"I know Bruce." He nodded, and typed his reply into the pager.

I had a wonderful time with you the other night, and I wish we could see each other again, but I'm afraid I can't. I'm afraid it was a one night thing. I wish you well Genie. Any man would be lucky to have you. goodbye, Clark.

"That's the right decision." Batman slipped his arms back under his cape and waited, knowing that sending that message would have really upset the big man. "You ok?"

"No. But I'll 'get used to it'."


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

"Hay, Gaia what's wrong?" Vivian looked up from her bowl of corn flakes and reached over the table to the nymph. A wave of sharp sadness pulsed from the evergreen woman, and chilled her to the core. The rest of the table had been twittering happily about their patrols last night and their training sessions so far, but now they all looked to the redhead and Gaia.

Vivian took one of Gaia's hands and squeezed it. "Oh, he broke it off. I'm so sorry Gaia."

"He what?!" Miss Swift jumped to her feet, and barked from the other end of the table. She then blurred round the table and took the empty seat by Gaia's other side. "That fucking asshole! What stupid idiot wouldn't want to hit that again? Damn girl, he isn't fucking right in the head if he blew you off."

"It's fine." Gaia put her pager away and took her hand back from Vivian. She then put her hands on her lap and licked her lips. "I'll be fine."

"Hay! You know his name right?" Luna skipped over to Gaia, standing behind her and rubbing her hands together in a maddening glee. "Point the guy out to me, and I'll make him grow blisters all over his cock! Oooo! Boils! Or make it turn green! Or blue! or-"

"You can do that?" Miss Swift folded her arms over her ample chest and cocked her head to one side, making her ebony braids sway. "Can you make his dick drop off?"

"Well..."

"No sweetie." The nymph wore a brave smile and used her free hand to dab a tear elegantly from her left eye. She then looked around her, and saw that all her friends had gathered around her, Shade included. "I have been used and rebuffed many times by men.. It was rare that he even wanted me to stay the night. Usually I have to leave straight afterwards. Men don't usually want to see me again. I am...used to it." She exhaled deeply. "I guess I just thought this one was different."

The justice league heavy hitters walked past the group at that moment, and Superman lingered. Not that the group noticed. Crowded around Gaia like that they all had their backs to the rest of the room. Vivian however was the only one sat at the table across from Gaia, and turned to catch the two men having a standoff. This feeling she was sensing...was that...

Batman put his hand on the man of steel's shoulder and coaxed him into leaving, lest he do something stupid. He jerked the younger man off him, clearly pissed off, and stormed out of the canteen. Batman followed, and Vivian had to school her features.

She'd very clearly just seen Gaia in her human disguise having sex with Superman. He looked different, being that he wasn't in his costume, and he wore glasses, but the memories belonged to him.

Superman was Clark Kent.

The telepath bit her bottom lip and held her knees tightly under the table. The rest of the group were cooing over Gaia, making her feel better with their stories of ex's, and how they got revenge. Luna turned one of her ex's into a cockroach when she caught him cheating on her, during the act, and Miss Swift broke her last boyfriend's jaw and nose for trying to beat on her.

But all Vivian could think of was the fact that Superman was the man that Gaia went home with the other night and had sex with. AND he'd just blown her off as a onetime thing.

Oh, now she was pissed. Vivian never got angry. She got upset, distraught, scared, but never angry. So this was a first for her.

What she'd seen in his memories and his remorse was the fact that he knew damn well that Genie was Gaia, and rejected her because of that.

He shouldn't have slept with her if he didn't want to be 'inappropriate with his recuit'.

"Erm, Mystic X? You ok there?" Miss Swift zipped over to her side and poked her shoulder. "You look a bit...pissy?"

"I am pissy." Her fists were clenched on the table, her chest moving with her soft panting and whole body was tense. "Excuse me. I need to go and sort out my mind." She rose to her feet.

"Oh sweetie, don't get upset because of me." Gaia forced her way between Agramon and Luna to get to the telepath. "Look I'm fine. Really."

That's because you don't know who just blew you off and why.

"I'm a telepath, remember? You can't lie to me." That deflated the nymph. The smile fell from her face and she sighed.

"Ok. I'll be just grand with a little time though sweetie. Perhaps some training or going out shopping would distract me? Would you like to-"

"I'm busy." Vivian held her fists by her sides and looked to Luna. "I'm everyone else would love to go shopping. Do something normal?"

"Sure!" he witch jumped onto the nymph, wrapping her arms around her green shoulders. "I could go for another pair of shoes."

"Great. See you later."

Vivian about turned and left the group talking about shopping, and didn't miss how Agramon slipped away from the crowd and followed her out of the hall. She heard her friend's concerned thoughts, and only lost her when Batman passed her in the corridor and stopped the Demoness in her tracks. Apparently they were due for a training session again, and Agramon had no reason to get out of it to follow her. good.

She focused on keeping her mental walls up as she navigated through the minds of the people around her, and keeping her intension to herself.

Vivian walked into a training room and found Superman and Hawkgirl flying around the vast hall, seemingly teaming up against Flash and Wonder Woman.

Rage rippled through her skin. it made her bones feel light, and her skin itch. She scratched at her neck subconsciously as she walked into the hall, navigating through the piles of rubble that had been torn up from the floor in the heated fight.

"Hay? Mist-er-something X right?" Flash skidded to a stop next to her and looked around her curiously. She sensed he was wondering if Miss Swift had come with her. "What are you doing here? We're doing some serious sparing here. You need to get out before you get hurt."

"I'll be fine."

Rage.

The pangs of her friend's broken heart echoed through her head, and the arrogance of the man burned in her chest.

"But-"

Hawkgirl threw her mace down at flash not realising that Mystic X was stood next to him. "Move!" Flash grabbed her arm and threw her out of the way, and then rolled off to one side, barely missing getting mangled.

Her body collided with the side wall and sagged.

But didn't fall. For a few seconds, she held herself up against the wall, her back to it, the tips of her fingers and the balls of her feet adhering to the concrete. Then she squealed and fell to the ground. Within the dust cloud that was kicked up from the impact of the mace to the ground, she landed in a squat, on her hands and feet and her spine curved up and in hunch. She then scrambled out of the way and returned to her feet. Vivian ran out of the dust cloud to find all the supers stood in the middle of the hall.

"See? I told you one of the recruits had snuck in here. Miss X, right?"

"Mystic X." She corrected him, her eyes wide and intense as she stalked towards the group. Hawkgirl recognised the look and stepped forward.

"You ok there kid? My mace didn't-"

"Superman." Vivian looked directly into his eyes and made chills travel down his spine. He slowly walked to the front of the group and stood before her. Vivian raised a hand and coiled her finger, beckoning him to come closer. Clark recalled that her only power was mental, so he didn't worry about getting within arm's reach of her. once he stood closer to her however, she didn't even hesitate. She swung her right hook across his chin and screamed with the passion and pain of it. she then held her fist close to her chest and cringed through the pain. He had one hard chin! Wonder woman and Hawkgirl were straight on her, pulling her arms by her sides and restraining the redhead.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the winged woman hissed by her ear, but saw a crazy look in the woman's brown orbs. She was still staring up at Superman, and the scowl she wore was intense.

"You deserve that." Vivian hissed, thrashing helplessly against her captors.

Superman held his chin and look at her with horror. Could she...could she possibly... "You fucking idiot. I'm a fucking telepath. Of COURSE I know."

"Calm down recruit." Wonder woman used her hold on the woman to bend her forward, but that didn't stop the girl craning her head to look up at the stunned man of steel. "Don't worry. I won't tell her. She doesn't need the insult to her injury. Your secret is safe with me." She hissed, jerking against her restraints again. "But if you ever hurt her like that again, I'll-"

"You'll do what?" Superman stalked forward and stared her down. "You'll do what?"

Her pupils dilated so much her eyes bled to black. His world blurred into darkness and everything vanished. Clark looked around himself desperately and realised that he couldn't move. Her was hovering somewhere dark and cold, but he couldn't fly out of this position. Very quickly he jerked something passed him he never thought he'd ever see again. It was his crystal ship, with him inside, as an infant. Before he could think about turning to watch it speed away, he winced as he saw the scene before him.

It was Krypton...imploding in on itself. It was his home planet...he was watching the moment his homeworld and people died. The blinding light of it burned his eyes, but in no way were responsible for the way he wept.

His parents. in this moment, they died. This was the end of his people. The end of the life he could have had, and the start of the one he did have.

Billions of lives were extinguished before his eyes, and he was powerless to stop it.

Staggering backwards Clark blinked reality back into focus, one hand on his chest, and tears still falling down his cheeks.

Before him Wonder woman and Hawkgirl still held Mystic X still, and she still glared at him.

"Stay away from her."

"I brought J'onn." Flash skidded to a stop between Superman and the livid telepath. "Erm, big guy?" Clark was still staring at Vivian's craned head and was...trembling. "You...ok? Hay supes?"

J'onn reached Superman first and helped him to turn away from Vivian. He looked deep into his traumatised eyes, and saw it.

"Mystic X...you..." He turned to look at his recruit. "...how could you?" Hawkgirl and Wonder woman released the girl, assuming J'onn was more than capable of taking it from here. She tucked her coppery hair behind her ears and stood tall. She had no shame. None. "That was his home world. You made him watch as his people were killed and his planet died." Diana gasped and turned to the woman, contemplating giving out some punches of her own.

"On the streets I never had the privilege of a friend. I don't give a shit what happens to me. But for my friends, I'll kill for."

"Choose your words carefully. I will have to decide whether or not to expel you from the justice league for this, or give you a worthy punishment to warrant you staying." J'onn seethed. No one deserved to see their people and planet die. He'd had the misfortune of witnessing that on Mars...how could she? Sweet empathic Vivian? What had superman-

He locked eyes with Vivian and her walls went down completely. It was an invitation, and she transmitted openly the reason for her motive. He sighed, wishing he hadn't found her reason. But at least he knew why she attacked. Superman slept with her friend, and then broke it off. it seems Vivian Harper is fiercely protective of her friends feelings. "You will come with me. Now." he ground through clenched teeth and fisted at the shoulder of her blue skin suit. She didn't resist him, and didn't stop scowling until they were out of the training hall. He phased them down to the recruit barracks and didn't stop dragging Vivian until they were inside her room, and the door was locked. "I don't care if Superman knowingly had sex with Gaia, who was not aware Clack was her mentor. I don't care that he decided, or why he decided, to cease pursuing any further relations with her. You have no right to that information, and certainly have no right to act on it. you were utterly irresponsible with your powers today, and what you did to Superman is unforgivable." J'onn didn't shout. He didn't need to shout. He was so disappointed and so angry with her, he knew the sensitive telepath would feel what he felt. She had empathic abilities after all. His voice was deep and had a threatening edge to it, but he didn't yell or hiss at her. J'onn watched as she sat on the edge of her bed and looked down at her knees with shame. Now she was a shamed of herself. "I personally have had to witness my home and my people dying all around me. Clark Kent was too young to remember that. Until you reached into his head and made him remember it. That was so cruel. I would not have thought you would have been capable of that. that level of hate."

The Martian paced before her, so angry with her, wishing he could think of a reason why he shouldn't recommend her for dismissal. She was just starting to show promise. She was just starting to come out of her shell and try to start mental conversations with him, despite how that ended up. She did have real potential. But she'd just mentally traumatised Superman.

"...I've never been that angry before." J'onn stopped pacing and looked down at his recruit. "I...have never let it crawl under my skin before. Is that what hate feels like?"

"When I entered the hall, that is what I sensed coming off you. Pure hatred and intense rage."

"I was...different." She held herself and bowed over, looking at her feet on the floor. "I can't believe I enjoyed hurting Superman like that." the Martian flinched at her admission. He watched her sob and hold herself, sensing self loathing coming off her.

The thing that stunned him however was the fact she enjoyed being so cruel. He almost couldn't believe it. but why would she lie? "What's wrong with me?" she whimpered and all the anger he felt ebbed away.

"It seems you are very dangerous when enraged." J'onn sighed and sat on the bed next to her. "I will speak with Superman. If we can together come up with a punishment for you and he will agree to keep you in the league, then you will accept whatever penance he demands. You will agree and be grateful. I will...try hard to get him to forgive you. I will however make no promises."

"...I don't deserve it..."

"No. But I'm your mentor. I'll do my best to help you anyway."

They sat there in without speaking as Vivian clamed herself and wiped her eyes.

"It won't mean anything, but tell him I never meant to go that far. I was just going to slap him. I never meant to enter his mind."

"You're right, it won't mean anything. But I'll tell him anyway."

"Fuck, did you hear?" Miss Swift joined her group of friends in the mess hall. As soon as she'd heard, she'd sent them all a message on her pager to meet her in the mess hall.

"Hear what?" Luna was spinning her pigtails like she was trying to skip with them if they were long enough. "Why did you call us all here? Wait, where's Mystic X?"

"That's the thing." Miss Swift put her hands on her black covered hips and blinked her amber eyes rapidly through her red eye mask. She was clearly shocked about something. "The whole place is abuzz with it. our little psychic went ape shit this morning and mentally fucked up Superman!"

"What!?" Gaia stopped fluffing her green locks and grabbed the speedster. "Why would she do that?!"

"No idea. She did a real number on him though. Apparently she did some fucked up shit, because all the big cheeses are talking about whether or not to give her the boot."

"No. I don't believe that she would just attack Superman like that." the nymph ran her hands through her hair worriedly. "What could she have done to risk getting kicked out? no no no, sweetie what did you do?"

"We have to do something." Agramon's wings twitched behind her restlessly. "We can't just let them kick her out."

"That sounds like we could actually do anything." Shade poked her arm and rolled her green orbs at the Demoness. "It sounds totally out of our hands. it's not up to us to-"

"To hell with that!" Gaia's hair coiled into green corkscrew ringlets and thorns appeared in place of the usual blossoms that littered her hair. She stormed out o the hall and the rest of the women quickly followed her. at first they tried to go to see Mystic X and get an explanation, but J'onn was guarding her door and wouldn't give them access, or speak to any of them.

In the end they followed the angry little nymph up to the conference room where they were deliberating Vivian's case, and the rest of the group tried to stop the train wreck before it could happen.

"Wait, Gaia, you're not seriously going to enter that top secret meeting room and, no!" Luna jumped forward to grab the evergreen women, but she was too late. Gaia had pushed the doors open and stormed inside.

The others just stood there outside the room, looking at each other. "Well, I'm not going in there."

"First good idea you've had." Shade seconded, and the pressed their ears as close to the door as they dared, trying to figure out what was happening inside.

"But she attacked him! what she did to Superman is unforgivable and-" Wonder Woman stopped mid rant when the forest beauty very uncharacteristically ran over to the desk where they all sat.

"Stop!" Gaia panted, her hands out like she was trying to stop a speeding car. "Please, whatever Mystic X did, please don't kick her out of the justice league."

"This is none of your business." Batman ground out and pointed at her threateningly. "Get out of here right now."

"Have you seen a Scottish woman lose her rag deary? I don't bloody think so!" She walked around the table, flipping her thorny hair over her shoulders and didn't stop until she stood right before her mentor. "Now, whatever she did to you, I'll take her punishment." She nodded, like that was a great idea and put her hands on her hips. Gaia beamed a smile up at him and cocked her head to one side. "Even if it's a wee beating, I'll take it. Come on Superman, I'm a big girl. I can take a-"

"Stop it." Superman snapped at her and that's when she noticed the expression on his face. He was in a lot of pain. A type of pain she couldn't heal.

"...what...did she-"

"That's enough. Everyone, get out." The big man turned his back to the room and exhaled deeply. "Not you Gaia." She had moved next to him. "You need to stay."

"Superman." Batman whispered by his side with a heavy warning. "Don't-"

"Please get out."

"...please don't make a mistake."

Gaia watched as everyone left the conference room and left her alone with the very conflicted Superman.

"I don't know what she did to you, or why, but-"

"You'd still take her punishment?" she blinked at the S on his red cape, still facing his back. she tried to walk around him, but he turned, keeping his back to her.

"Yes." her hair uncoiled itself and the thorns were replaced with cherry blossoms. She didn't need to be an empathy to know he was struggling with something. "Are you ok sweetie?" she put a motherly hand on his shoulder, and he dropped his shoulders and pinched his nose.

"No. I've learnt the hard way not to piss off a psychic." He chuckled weakly. Her hands were so warm on his shoulder and he felt her move him to look at her. "Gaia, don't-"

"Is this because you blew me off?" He stared at her hard. He could have sworn his super hearing caught her saying those words...but that's impossible...even Mystic X said she wouldn't tell her, so- "Oh look at you, so clueless." Gaia chuckled and cupped his face. Her emerald eyes were bright and her smile kind. "Clark, the moment we were joined I recognised your energy. I have a very specific type, and if you think a pair of glasses is enough to hide your energy from me, you have got to be kidding." She watched his mouth open, and grief cover his face.

"How long did you know it was me?"

"Well sweetie, when I say when we were joined to do mean literally." She stroked his cheek, smiling brighter when he turned into her embrace. "But as you aren't shocked to learn that I know who you are or that I'm the woman from the other night...I seem to think you have something to admit as well?" Superman groaned with pain and turned to look at the door. He hoped no one was listening in. "I...knew all along. You showed me your disguise, remember?"

"So you knew all along." She raised a brow at him and pursed her lips. "Well, I am a little miffed at that, but there are bigger issues to deal with here." He held her hands against his face and melted any anger Gaia held for him. "I thought it was a coincidence that she went straight from my side this morning to attack you. Was it because of me?"

"It seems Mystic X is very protective." Clark gulped and chuckled. Despite the trauma of seeing the moment Krypton imploded, a weight lifted from his shoulders. She knew now. no more lying.

"Yes. And not very subtle. I meant what I said." Gaia took her hands from his face and held them over her front. "It's my fault she attacked you. I'll take her punishment." Clark frowned, missing the gentle heat of her hands already. "Please."

"She made me watch my homeworld and my people die. That was a massively irresponsible and evil use of her powers. I can't just let that pass."

"I see." Gaia gulped and tucked her thick green locks behind her ears. "Then no patrols, no training with any of her friends, something like cleaning out the mess hall or something, and I'll do the same."

"What? You can't be punished for what she did." Clark snapped.

"That will be part of her punishment. She'll hate that I've been punished as well."

"She's not the only one." He reached out for her arms, but Gaia stepped back. "...Gaia..."

"Well? What are you going to do with my friend?" Her face was calm but focused, like nothing would waver her resolve.

"I should dismiss her." He folded his arms over his chest and wished she'd let him touch her again.

"If I ever meant anything to you Clark, you'll be merciful. And yes, I've pulled that card. But I swear, I'll never pull it again." He felt the throbbing pain in his chest grow, and he desperately wanted to pull her into his arms.

"...alright. I'll ground her to the halls and have her training rights revoked with everyone but her mentor. I'm sure Batman can find something menial for her to do as well around here. But you are not being punished." He reached for her then, but she backed away again. "Gaia, don't be like that. I only broke it off because-"

"I'll not be needing to know that Superman." She shook her head and smiled up at him. "I respect your decision. It won't make it easier knowing why. I've done this dance often enough to know how it goes. I'll remember the night for what it was, and be perfectly professional with you about it." She held a hand out for him and waited patiently for him to take it. "Thank you for showing her mercy. I'm going to make her know that I am very angry at her for this, and won't make this easy on her. I can promise you that."

"Can we at least talk about-"

"No, sweetie. No take backs." She then took her neglected hand back and nodded to him. "Thank you again Superman. I'll go give her the good news."

"Gaia, please." He chased her out of the conference room and stopped when he was bombarded by his trusted colleagues. He watched her usher her comrades away from the conference room and down the stairs.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"What are they doing?"

"No idea Luna. But it looks deep." Miss Swift looked over the top of her magical friend's head and through the window of the doors. They looked into one of the training halls and saw Mystic X and J'onn sat on the floor, legs crossed and knees so close they nearly touched. "Looks like they're meditating. With their eyes closed and heads forward and shit."

"I can see them breathing...but what else are they doing? how is that training?"

"What's going on?" Luna pushed her backside out, making Miss Swift jump back and threaten the witch with a super fast knuckle sandwich, to see past her. Gaia walked right up to them, one hand on her hip and the other fluffing her evergreen locks. "Are you going to tell me who you're spying on? OOoo, has Shade finally laid down at Nightwing's feet and-"

"No." The Africana beauty stomped her red boot on the floor and pointed at the nymphs face, defending the shadow master in her absence. "Don't be saying shit like that. she'll find out through the shadows and kick your ass. You know it daisy face." Gaia just shrugged, clearly not giving a shit. "Well anyway, we're watching Vivian and the Martian Manhunter train. It's...very boring."

"Ooo, lemme see." Luna shimmed to the left to let the nymph peek through the widow too. "Ooooo, they are very intimate right now." Gaia pressed her hands against the door and trembled with it. "I'm getting some real vibes off them. Powerful emotions."

"Shit, you an empath to?" the speedster put one hand on Luna's shoulder and the other on Gaia's, using her height to look over their heads and through the window.

"Oh, not like Mystic X, but it it's being given off and it's romantic or sexual, I can sense it."

"Wait." Miss Swift's amber eyes blinked rapidly, and she used her hold on the green woman to make her turn to face her. "You're getting romantic and or sexual vibes...from..."

"Hmmm, it's not as simple as that." Gaia returned to feeling the door and staring intently through the window. "I'm not psychic, just sensitive. The forms of intimacy I feel have to be stimulated physically, like everyone else. But psychics...they can go to another plain of closeness without even touching. It's pure and powerful." She sighed longingly. "I had sex with a psychic once. Oh my sweet gods, I felt his passion in a way that I can't describe with words. He shared his pleasure with me, and amplified my own..."

Luna waved her hand in front of the nymphs face and shrugged to Miss Swift.

"I think we lost her to her happy place."

"Come on, we better scram. I'm sure it's not smart to talk about this shit, this close to a pair of telepaths. We'll grab Mystic X later." the other two girls started whining that they wanted to watch some more, but the speedster was having none of it. she grabbed an elbow from each woman and marched them away from the training room.

Inside the training room.

Inside J'onn's mind.

Vivian was surrounded by water, but she could breathe. It was cool and lapped at her skin, soothing and refreshing her soul. As she floated in the water her coppery locks twisted and swayed around her. She arched her body in the water, spreading her limbs out and giggling with her contentment. She lifted one of her hands out and saw J'onn appear before her.

It didn't look like J'onn, but she knew it was him.

It looked like softly humming ball of light with wisps of energy orbiting it. Each of these flares moved like smoky eels swimming leisurely around the central orb, and it felt like J'onn. It didn't speak, it just pulsed with colours and soft tones where each of the wisps brushed up against another one, before changing direction.

She swayed her body in the liquid and swam around him with very little effort. J'onn glided around her, until they were doing their own little dance, always moving and watching, never touching.

The need to respond to his gentle pulses and bursts of colour burned a need within her. Vivian was desperate to join in, to feel more of this...this. it was something that she didn't know the name for. It didn't feel natural, but it did feel like a privilege. She was filled with wonderment and awe at the majestic sight of his mental form. no body. no words, just feelings and sensations. A higher way of thinking she so desperately-

Her body became very light and she held herself with a warm smile. Her ginger locks intertwined and became a grey hood over her face, falling around her body in tendrils. She felt like she wasn't made of anything anymore, and didn't have a body particularly to look at, nor a reflection anywhere to examine. She was a moving grey cloak with a hood, and a face. Her body moved like smoke from a fire, dancing and fluttering around the throbbing orb.

Vivian. The voice had no sound, but she felt the recognition of it. At first she tried to speak back to him, but she had no voice to form the words. Instead she exhaled deeply and recalled a memory of his face. Yes. her body had trembled with the force of his reply, but not unpleasantly. She didn't need to think her reply, but feel it. she let her none existent chest swell with gratitude and happiness, and her body pulsed pink. A tendril of her grey smoky cloak caressed one of the wisps surrounding J'onn, and the pink flared round him like wild fire. He allowed her to infect her with her emotions, and returned them with a burst of white. Pride. He was proud of her progress so far.

They seemed to swim in clear water, breathing, gliding and dancing for hours, sending feelings back and forth and creating a song with the humming of their energies.

Somehow she knew it was time to return to her own mind. Her body returned to her and became heavy. Vivian could look at her hands again, and feel her hair moving in the ripples of the water. Her body sank in the water and the distance between her and J'onn became greater and greater. It was a gentle decent, but slowly she felt the warmth of the training hall air against her cheeks and blinked her brown orbs back into focus.

At first it was quite a shock to be breathing real air again, and she clutched her chest, forcing her lungs to inhale and exhale properly again. Her heart also rasped against her chest, having slowed right down during their mental exchange, and took a good minute to return to normal.

Once she had steadied herself she looked to J'onn, to see he was still sat in front of her, and he was holding his face in one hand. She waited for him to gather himself...only to realise he was crying. Vivian didn't speak. She reached out and took his wrist. Slowly she guided it away from his face and saw tears slowly falling from his fiery orange eyes.

"Did I do something wrong J'onn?" her voice was horse, like she hadn't used it for years, not hours. She swallowed to moisten her throat.

"No Vivian." He exhaled slowly and wiped his tears away with his thumb. He then took her hands in his and sighed. "It has simply been a long time since I was able to share myself with someone. I hadn't realised how much I missed it."

"Haven't you met other telepaths in the justice league?"

"Yes." he released her hands and got to his feet in one fluid motion. Vivian followed suit, but her limbs didn't feel as solid as his, so she stumbled into her mentor. He caught her of course, and helped her regain her balance. "But only side by side in battle, or as the enemy. It takes time and trust to form a true mental bond. To really...speak."

"I feel like I just experienced something...i don't even know how to describe it." Vivian ran a hand back through her coppery locks and stood on her own. "But I really enjoyed it. And when I think my brain is up to it, I'd definitely like to do it again." J'onn released a rare smile and held her shoulders. Not for support this time, but for closeness.

"You shared some very kind and warm feelings with me. I am unsure if you felt the same from me."

"Oh, yeah. I was so happy I think I'd have cried. If could have I mean." She gripped his arm as he escorted her out of the training hall. "I mean it was so, I mean, intense. I was still me, but a concentrated version of me. But none of the bad parts. I only felt what I wanted to feel, and share with you what I wanted to. Why did my body become all lady of smoke but you were a ball of energy? Why didn't we have bodies? Why-"

"You have many questions." J'onn chuckled, another rarity, and walked her back to her room. "But I'm sure being in such a heightened mental state with me for so long has drained you." they stepped into an elevator and he pressed the button to her floor. "You look tired Vivian Harper."

"Yeah, floored actually." She chuckled and looked up at him with awe.

No wonder he wanted to converse with a fellow telepath so badly. If that's how his kind normally spoke to one another, it makes normal talking pale in comparison. Humans tried so hard to mask their feelings, where the Martian way of talking was sharing their feelings. These two methods of communication were mutually exclusive. Makes me feel kinda primitive.

You are not primitive Vivian. I am pleasantly surprised at your ability to adapt your mind to mine, showing a higher ability than most humans. Your kind is very good at training your bodies to do a certain task, or an array of tasks, but your way of thinking is usually very linear. You are a very talented exception to this.

Vivian blushed and smiled shyly.

That's a pretty big compliment for the team punching bag! Had she not laughed that in her mind, he might have gotten very frustrated with her.

When you are making the rest of your team fall asleep or hallucinate, then we'll see about that little nickname, won't we?

"I can do that?!"

"Perhaps, with time and more training." He nodded to her, indicating that the elevator had arrived on her floor. He pressed the button to take him to the transport level, no doubt intending to return to the watch tower station. "You have already improved greatly since we changed our training sessions to focus on the basics of your mental prowess. It has been surprising to find you respond so well to Martian training methods." The door was about to close, so she reached forward and pressed her hands to either side of the doorway, preventing his escape.

"Martian training methods? You mean, you're training me how you were trained?" that thought made her swell with pride.

"Yes, when I was an infant." That balloon burst. "Like I trained K'hym before..." he swallowed hard, and Vivian sensed his mental barriers fortify around his mind. It was too late however, she'd seen the face of a young female Martian, and sensed his deep love and morning for her.

"Your daughter?"

"I need to return to the watch tower. Please release the-"

"It's an honour to be trained like you trained your daughter. I'll keep working hard to make it worth it J'onn, I swear." Vivian had learnt quite a lot about her mentor. Particularly how private he was. Every now and then however he let something slip, something she felt she needed to treasure in her mind and consider an honour to guard in her memories.

J'onn sensed this and nodded with a sad smile.

"Rest well Mystic X." A recruit was walking down the corridor. "We are on patrol tomorrow night, so I will ensure that the coffee machine is fully stocked for your arrival."

"Yes sir."

She saluted him. She then felt a sign hang around her neck that said cheesy. I wonder what Martian's do as a sigh of respect...

"We do this." He banged his fist to his chest like a marine, then fluidly bent his wrist and moved it forward from his body several inches and waited, before putting his arm down.

"Ok." Vivian mimicked the action, and blinked as J'onn repeated it until their wrists touched.

"Good day Mystic X."

"see you tomorrow Martian Manhunter." She felt him push against her wrist with his, making her take a few steps backwards, and then took his arm back to fold them over his chest. The elevator pinged, and the doors closed.

Gaia had been hiding around the corner and watched the whole thing in a compact mirror. To say they were telepathic, for them not to know she was watching that secret little moment, only shows how focused they were on each other. Once it seemed that Vivian was determined to stare at the elevator with a goofy smile, the nymph pretended to gag and sauntered around the corner to retrieve her.

"Ok googly eyes, he's gone now, so you can tell me all about it."

"...huh?"

"Oh dear, that bad huh?" Gaia hooked arms with the redhead and escorted her to Luna's room. The door opened, revealing the recently redecorated pink emporium that was her room, with all the other girls sat on the bed, floor, pink heart shaped cushions and Luna was in a hammock at the other side of the room. "So I found this sweetheart reeling from her mental hook up with the Martian Manhunter in the corridor. They have a secret handshake and everything!"

"Wha-how did-it's not like that!" Vivian blushed from head to toe and pushed the nymph away from her. "Stop looking at me like that! No! We're just friends."

"Thank you." Miss Swift was laid on Luna's bed and flicking through a runner's monthly magazine. "See, it can happen. You can be friends with your mentor of the opposite gender, without it resulting in fucking. Don't worry red, I got your ass." She winked at the telepath, who wasn't sure if she had been insulted or defended in that, and knelt next to Agramon on the floor. Shade was sat on a pink cushion and was typing 'something' into a pda. She was here at least, even if she was blanking the room. A big step forward for the antisocial blonde.

"Did you have a good training session with your mentor?" Agramon stretched her wings behind her, getting a little cramped on the floor.

"I did." Vivian grabbed her hand and squealed with excitement. "He's started training me like a Martian, with loads of mental combat rather than physical combat. And today I spoke with him on a mental plain that transcended anything I've ever experienced in my life." The Demoness's red eyes blazed with glee and started nodding her head at the smaller woman. It made her thick raven hair tousle even more around her ivory horns.

"Oh, I can beat that!"

"Here we go." Shade droned next to her.

"Last Night Batman took me into a warehouse to hunt down a shipment of mind altering memory chips that had caused some security guards to rob the stores they were protecting, and wipe their short term memories afterwards." She took a breath and seemed to bounce on her knees. "We found the shipment of parts to make the chips, and the Mad Hatter was there!"

"No!" Luna almost fell out of her hammock. "What did you do? Run until Batman kicked his ass or-"

"What? No." Agramon held up her fists and beamed a smile so wide her fangs protruded over her plump grey lips. "I flew up into the rafters and threw down smoke bombs and charges at the hatter and his goons. Batman did most of the ass kicking though." Those bright red eyes turned to look at Vivian again. "And he is awesome at kicking ass. The way he moves in the smoke and takes out thugs is like he is a bat, and doesn't actually have to see! It's like magic or something!"

"Wow, really? that sounds cool." The psychic giggled.

"It is. He is the best fighter in the world. He has no super strength, but he's still the best. He's like martial artist and an acrobat rolled into one, and he electrocuted the Mad Hatter with a special batamarang, and-"

"Hold the fucking phone." Miss Swift closed her magazine and narrowed her amber eyes on the Demoness. "Did you just say Batman was the best? Fuck off!"

"Yes he is." Agramon out her hands on her knees and pouted at the speedster. "He takes on super powered villains all the time and kicks their ass. No one can beat him. He's Batman."

"Oh, no you didn't bat-bitch." In a blur of black and red Miss Swift leapt off the bed and crouched before Agramon, who now crossed her arms over her ample chest in a sulking huff. "Batman has no powers and a lot of toys to help his average strength fists." Agramon started growling. "Flash is an awesome martial artist and with his super speed, Batman wouldn't land one bat-a-ma-watzits on him. he'd be on his ass in an second." She clicked her fingers to make her point.

"Nah, you're both wrong." Luna swung in her hammock happily. "Superman is the bullet proof man, the man of steel, the god send to earth. He has lazer vision-"

"So does J'onn..." Vivian mumbled.

"Super strength."

"So does J'onn."

"He can fly."

"So does-"

"He is faster than a speeding train!" he witch tumbled out of her hammock and pointed down at the psychic.

"So is J'onn, and Flash." Vivian giggled, seeing an angry vein appear above Luna's left sapphire eye, which was also twitching.

"Ok...erm...super hearing!"

"So does J'onn."

"But-but-the x-ray vi-"

"Yeah J'onn has that too. oh, and he can phase through objects too." Vivian put her hands behind her head and leaned back against the wall. your turn.

"Why you smug little-" Luna put her hands on her hips and looked up at the ceiling for inspiration. "-recharges with solar energy!"

"Erm. Even Gaia can do that. and J'onn doesn't need to recharge so that's still a win for J'onn." Agramon leaned into the psychic and whispered into her ear.

"Is it bad that I want you to win to beat Luna, even though I still think Batman's better?"

"Either way, I'll still win." The red head then waved her hand for the witch to continue.

"No you won't you little brain train. Ok, he heals himself. There."

"So does-"

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Luna hissed and stomped her foot on the floor. She pulled at her raven pigtails, trying to think of another power. She'd done her research, but was there any more powers under the man of steel's cape? "Oh! He can blow wind!"

"...so can-"

"Fine! They have the same powers so they are both the best. Ok?" Luna skulked back to her hammock and curled up in it with her bottom lip handing out.

"...actually." Vivian put her hands on her knees and resisted the urge to laugh at the livid way Luna scrambled onto her hands and knees in the hammock to stare her down. "...J'onn has the whole phasing through objects thing, shape shifting, and his array of mental abilities...so actually, J'onn is the best of all of the mentors." She nodded, and giggled as Luna vanished in an angry poof of smoke. "...oh...do you think I went too far?"

"Nah. It's nice to see you with some balls." Shade mumbled from her quiet corner of the room and shrugged, not looking away from her pda. "Besides, you've never stood up for yourself before. You didn't look pretty as a door mat."

"Erm..." Vivian turned to look at Agramon, who smiled at her.

"That's Shade being nice and saying you did good."

"Oh...well thank you." she sat back against the wall and felt victorious. My mentor is the best mentor.

"Batman is still the best though. He has skill to-"

"Oh please take your mouth from the dark night's ass for a second to realise that Flash is-"

"Enough!" Shade jumped to her feet and clipped her pda to her belt. "Now if you've all put your boners away, can we get to business?" she had her fists on her hips, one of which was jutted to one side. "Now, have you put your names down on the Wayne Industries protection duty yet? Or not?"

"Wayne Industries?" Luna reappeared in her hammock, but in a pink onesie this time. clearly ready for bed. "Like, Gotham's billionaire playboy and part time business owner Bruce Wayne's company, Wayne Industries?"

"No, the other one." Shade rolled her green eyes and pulled her pda off her belt again. "This morning it was sent over the JL intranet that a high end charity event being hosted by Bruce Wayne next week has been publically targeted by some eco crazy group. Lots of threats, but as Mr Wayne is too stupid to take hint to stop the party, they need protecting. Police will be on the doors, but apparently the 'playboy billionaire' has sent a request to the Justice league to provide some protection." She flicked through the email, skimming information. "Doesn't want to draw more attention to the party by having the likes of Batman or Superman there, but some protection would be nice. So basically." She licked her teeth once. "Mister Money bags is apparently one of the main contributors to the JL funds. So if he says jump...?"

"oooo!" Agramon put her hand up, waving it desperately. "I know this one."

"What? Seriously? Like a school kid?" Agramon still waited. "Oh, dear god-fine! Agramon?"

"We ask how high." The terrifying Demoness clapped her hands together. "I knew that one." Vivian chuckled by her side and rubbed her arm, like you'd fuss a dog that had done a good trick.

"...yeah. so anyway, this is our opportunity to kick some serious ass." The shadow master held a fist up and grinned at it. "Our mentors would draw too much attention, so Mr Wayne wants a handful of recruits to mingle with the guests, in full uniform of course, so his guests feel safe enough to write nice big cheques and this eco group will think twice before crashing it. no mentors guys."

"No leash!" Luna bounced up and down in her hammock. "No leash no leash!"

"Yeah, that too." Shade looked down at Agramon and put her hands out. "Don't you think Batman would be impressed if you protected his home town big shot and kicked some ass if the party is crashed? Without him looking over your shoulders?"

"...I'll ask him first-"

"Hmm, well that complicates things." Shade folded her arms slowly over her black combats. "I...might have already sighed us all up."

"Wait, all of us?" Miss Swift threw the magazine at the shadow master's head so quickly she couldn't dodge it, and glared back at the speedster. "Now then bitch, you need to ask a woman before you go and sign her ass up for shit. Seriously!"

"...so you don't want to-"

"Of course I fucking do." Lila Jones couldn't wait to tell Flash she was going to go out on her own (and her colleagues) for the first time! "But ask a woman first, ya dig?"

Shade just shrugged and stretched off a yawn.

"So anyway, nearly all the recruits signed up for this gig, we need to wait for the roster to be announced tomorrow at 2pm. So...we need to butter up our mentors to make sure they pick us."

"Oooo, I'll make Superman some more of my apple pie!" Luna giggled, laying on her back and rubbing her hands together in glee. "He loves my apple pie. Oooo! Maybe some homemade ice cream? With sprinkles? This is going to rock."

"I've ran out and bought Nightwing some cool GPS super adhesive dots in a cartridge that you can put on your belt. one dot on the bad guy's ass, and you can track him anywhere in the country. If they skip the US, then it get's trickier, but hay how."

"Oh you kiss ass." Gaia put her hands on her knees and pushed up to her feet. "I'm not all that concerned about getting the mission. If I do, I'll work hard. If not, then I'll put myself on standby to heal the selected roster."

"Great! No competition!" Luna cackled from the hammock, and missed the sad look on Gaia's face. Vivian felt it though.

Gaia couldn't bring herself to face superman. she was being trained by Wonder Woman, but it would still be up to her team mentor Superman to pick her. that was not an avenue she was willing to approach.

"Well I need to come up with a plan. So I'm off to bed to rest up." Miss Swift zipped out of the door first, followed by Gaia, Vivian, Agramon and then Shade.

Luna dreamt of all the recipes she could put together in the morning to win over her mentor's sweet tooth, swaying happily in her hammock.


End file.
